


Death and the Holy Stone

by crush_zombie



Category: Soul Calibur
Genre: Amy is also in this, Black Humor, M/M, Of course I wrote it so there's going to be themes of suicide, Power Dynamics, and some intense "discussion" of suicide in the last chapter, script, warnings for:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:40:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crush_zombie/pseuds/crush_zombie
Summary: Old timeline, immediately after SCIVRaphael arm-bars Siegfried into being his "pet". Somehow he's forgotten how alike they are.
Relationships: Siegfried Schtauffen/Raphael Sorel
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the past eight years I worked on this fic every winter, and since the beginning is eight years old (and in spite of chipping at it little by little since then), it definitely gets better as it goes. Originally the first chapter was posted as a storyboard on Tumblr, but it's changed significantly since then.

Off-screen, in a dark bedroom, there seems to be some struggling in secret.

(Raph) P-Please stop...  
Stop struggling!

Raphael wrestles Siegfried in a disheveled bed, his entire body working to push Siegfried's arms apart.

(Sieg) W-Why are you doing this?!  
(Raph) Hmph!

Raphael fixes his hair as he sits up, before raising a pinky and looking down at his captive.

(Raph) You lost to me, and you owe me for saving your life-- you said so yourself--  
By rights, I own you. You are my pet.  
(Sieg) ...

Siegfried gets a sting of guilt, I guess.

(Sieg) You say I lost to you... But you were not alone in the forest where you abducted me.

A flashback to a while before, in a forest, maybe in Germany. I'm not sure where. Siegfried is surrounded by goons in armor as he glares towards them.

(Raph) Oh please. My servants are but an extension of myself.  
(Sieg) Then perhaps you were the one who should have felt my fist that night, blutsauger.

Siegfried punches a few of them out and kicks another. One gets thrown over his shoulder.

(Raph) Nonetheless, you were of no match!  
(Sieg) I was unarmed!  
(Raph) Well, perhaps you shouldn't have left your sword at the top of that ungodly tower, hm?

A brief flash to Nightmare lying lifeleess at the top of the Tower of Souls-- err, Rememberance, with the Soul Calibur shattered next to him.  
Back to the dark room. Siegfried makes a low, begrudging growl.

(Raph) Am I not right? Well!  
From today on, I shall keep you-- you are to stay here in the castle and not suffer anyone but myself. I shall decide what you wear and other... less amusing volitions.  
(Sieg) This is madness...  
(Raph) Must I remind you again that I saved your life?

Siegfried remembers, briefly, a rapier piercing the Soul Edge through its eye, and Nightmare, arrested in his pain, seizes and his armor starts to crack.  
Siegfried, propped up on the bed, says nothing.

(Sieg) Allow me to think some.

Raphael takes the opportunity to slowly prod him.  
Siegfried isn't much into the idea, though.

(Sieg) Nn-- Don't bite me...  
(Raph) Oh, don't be silly. I only bite to tease, you know.  
To become like me is a complicated procedure.

Siegfried shrinks away from the attention, eager to get out from under his captor.

(Seig) ...A-As I thought... Nh... This closeness...  
(Raph) Mm?

Siegfried pushes Raphael up with no small amount of force.

(Seig) ...Is very...

And then punches him out.

(Seig) --Distressing!!

"WHACK" is written here, lol.  
(Much later,) Raphael angrily swings a door open with his two maids, Marienbard and Jaqueline, alongside him. He waves them away before he enters a room, and closes the door behind him.  
Siegfried is sitting at a large window, gazing upwards towards the sky. Raphael gives him an unseen, irritated glare before approaching.

(Raph) It can be said that you have the airs of a very handsome maiden, but you certainly don't punch like one!

Siegfried turns to him.

(Sieg) ...How long do you intend to imprison me here?  
(Raphael) "Imprison"?  
You are my pet, do you not remember? This is your home.

Siegfried turns away again.

(Sieg) ..."Home".  
A home becomes a prison when one cannot leave.

Raphael gives an unimpressed huff.

(Raph) If not here, then, where is your home?  
Back in the woods there, among the trees? Or is it among countless hostels, as you drift from one to each?

Siegfried says nothing. Raphael then leans over.

(Raph) What is it you're gazing at?

A hand points up towards the window.

(Raph) The moon?  
What do they call it where you're from?  
(Sieg) ..."Mond".

Raphael laughs to himself, mostly.

(Raph) Ha! Do they believe there's another "world" there?

Siegfried says nothing, as this would be the first of many, many puns from this man in his castle.  
Raphael points upwards as well.

(Raph) What about these then?  
(Sieg) ..."Die sterne".  
(Raph) Hrm... not a very graceful language, by the sounds of it.

Raphael steps back and brings out a small pile of folded clothes.

(Raph) The reason I came here actually, was to give you these and invite you to dinner.

He hands the clothes to Siegfried.

(Sieg) I'm not hungry.  
(Raph) Is that so? You haven't eaten since yesterday, for certain.

He starts to walk towards the door.

(Raph) And if you refuse to get dressed, the handmaidens can dress you. Again.

Siegfried says nothing again, and watches the other man walk to the door.

(Raph) Come down when you are ready.

The door closes behind Raphael, and Siegfried gives a moment to think before looking up to the moon. It beams down in the pitch darkness.  
He turns away, apparently "struck by a memory," according to this page.  
Later on, he's dressed, and walks down a spiral staircase from his room of confinement. He stops at the foot of the stairs when he sees a young girl ahead of him.  
Amy gives a light curtsy.

(Sieg) You're...  
(Amy) I am Amy. You are papa's pet.

She takes his hand in hers and guides him down the hallway.

(Amy) Come with me, monsieur pet.  
(Sieg) Y-You don't have to take my hand, you know.

He starts thinking.

(Sieg) (thought) ...Could it be... Is this girl really that man's daughter? Does that mean she's a _Blutsaugerin_ like him?  
Her hand is cold...  
If this is true... It is my fault. It was through my contact with her father that he's been cursed, and then she must have...

At the dinner table, Raphael is sitting with his maids attending and a pretty big meal on the enormous table. 

(Raph) Ah, welcome! Both of you, come, sit down.

Amy sits down, and Siegfried does as well, before giving Raphael a cold look.

(Raph) Do make yourself at home, pet.  
Actually, since you haven't eaten in a while, we should start small. Some wine?

He motions for a maid with a (likely closed) pitcher in her hands. She walks over and pours some for Siegfried in a wine glass.  
Siegfried looks up to her, briefly, noting how creepy and pale she is.

(Sieg) (thought) This one, too, is one of them.

He looks to the other maids

(Sieg) (thought) And them. They're all the same. Creatures bent to some wicked shape by the evil blade.

Siegfried flashes back to when he was first dragged into this town, on a horse with his wrists tied to the bulbous pommel of the saddle. I think this is called a horn, actually. He looks to some people passing by on the road, and they're all horrifyingly undead-looking. Like zombies, I guess. The sky is a depressing grey and the grass a muted yellow color. I would say there's actually a lot of snow around.

(Sieg) (thought) When we first came to this town, I had noticed something about the villagers. Lifeless and smelling like blood. The land surrounding this castle for acres had been completely _malefested_.  
Perhaps by the man sitting before me.

He looks at Raphael as the self-appointed castellan notices, and then tries to give a charming glance.

(Sieg) (thought) ...Why me? What is it that he wants? To have me become like the rest? But to what end? Perhaps he considers me as a threat.

Certainly not to write his own _romaunt_ in _romanien_.  
Siegfried reluctantly raises the glass and brings it to his lips before the smell of it hits him-- He stares at the cup.

(Sieg) (thought) Blood.

He has several terrible panel flashbacks of people he's murdered-- marked with the stench and red.

(Sieg) (thought) This smell...

Siegfried's expression clouds before Raphael takes the cup from him.

(Raph) This-- is the fairly appetizing blood of a nobleman who so kindly volunteered to be beheaded on our way back here by going out of his way to approach me and inform me that I am, in fact, ungentlemanly, and a gargoyle-faced madman.  
I'm not even sure he knew that Rouen is my hometown. 

He notices that Siegfried is staring at him and/or the cup in his hand.

(Raph) ...It may be an acquired taste, my pet, but I promise you... there is nothing as palatable as the copper of blood.  
Bear with it... and you might get used to anything. It's then that you learn to accept it, no?  
(Sieg) There are things I could never accept.  
Staying bound in a castle with a pathetic creature that busies himself with drinking the blood of the _bourgeois_ is one of them.

Raphael twitches at the name-calling.

(Raph) You certainly do not know how to act before your benefactors.  
(Sieg) Truly, a benefactor is one who kidnaps a man from the Holy Roman Empire and brings him before the _Osmanisches Reich?!_  
(Raph) Oh, flim-flam, my pet. Certainly this land isn't so belligerent. I'm sure that even you can see beyond your barbarous patriotism and learn to appreciate how truly charming Valachie's countryside can be.  
(Sieg) This is a countryside of the dead!  
(Raph) Just how I like it!  
No-one to question or accuse me. Let there be freedom here, so long as the night falls. And so long as you remember that you... are mine.  
By my side you are bound by your own dignity. And in tribute, you will serve me. Do mind your words, my pet.  
(Sieg) Stop... calling me that...  
(Raph) What was that?  
(Sieg) I am not your pet--  
You disgusting, detestable creature!

Raphael gives him a look of irritation and shock at his rudeness.  
The maids standing nearby give nervous expressions and Amy doesn't give a shit. Raphael is almost quivering with anger. 

(Raph) As lord of this castle, I will call you what I want.  
(Sieg) A stolen lordship deserves no respect!

Raphael is getting more and more angered. They slowly stand up, glaring at each other.

(Raph) I have my fingers around your neck, my pet. If you will not admire me, you will fear me.  
(Sieg) Fear does not befit something so spineless.

Raphael grits his teeth and in a flash he takes Siegfried by the collar of his borrowed shirt to glare at him a little more closely. Siegfried defiantly glares back.

(Raph) ...You are pedaling in sauerkraut, little one.  
(Sieg) In raising arms against you, my time is not wasted.  
(Raph) Raise your arms against me, would you?  
Insolence!

Raphael lets Siegfried go and the german quietly looks about.

(Raph) What are you thinking of? Escape?  
You will never make it alone.  
Death is at every window. Hell is at my doors.  
You have no choice but to make your peace with me.

Siegfried glares at him again.

(Raph) Apologize. There will be consequences otherwise.  
(Sieg) So you would kill me.  
(Raph) How could I keep you if I kill you? This is no Chateau de Čachtice, my pet, and I am no Báthory. We sate ourselves as gentlemen, here. And as a gentleman...

Raphael holds out a hand.

(Raph) Glove!

A maid hands him one without him looking at her (a glove, sir? just hand it to me!), and takes the glove to look at it for a moment before quickly whipping it in Siegfried's bewildered face.

(Raph) ...I challenge you to a duel, you handsome churl!  
All hands assemble in the courtyard immediately! Go!

All the maids hurry through the dining room.  
Guards move down a staircase and take position in the courtyard's upper balconies, etc. They form an intimidating league around Raphael as he adjusts his coat and gives a huff of steam in the cold air. It's snowing.  
Raphael takes a sword from a nearby maid and glares towards Siegfried as we see more of the courtyard in the snow.

(Raph) I formally challenge you, my pet, and you will see that this "creature" knows something of honor. Win, and I will call you whatever you wish. It will not affect our relations. Lose... and I will call you "pet".  
And you will call me "master".

Siegfried says nothing as he gives a stabbing stare back at the french gentleman. A maid has a sword for him nearby.

(Sieg) ..."Honor" is an easy way to enslave a man, isn't it.  
(Raph) A-hah... no, not honor. It is conviction.  
(Sieg) ...I'm certain we both know-- you thrust your blade upon _der blaue reiter_ not to aid me, but to save yourself.  
(Raph) And how would you know that?

Siegfried is momentarily confused.

(Sieg) You're a madman, and nothing more than that!  
(Raph) Ahah! Paltry insults! Paltry!  
My pet, if you're going to entertain the trouble of demeaning me, do come up with something I've yet to hear.

Siegfried takes the sword he's offered and is surprised by its lightness.

(Sieg) (thought) A Rapier... It's terribly light!  
I'm afraid I may break it!  
(Raph) Well?  
Are you ready, my pet?

Siegfried gets into position.

(Sieg) You will stop calling me that.

Raphael does as well.

(Raph) Let us leave that decision to our swords.

They start to slightly circle each other. Siegfried gives a glare, and Raphael does, too.  
Raphael then thrusts towards Siegfried with all his strength.

(Raph) Ha!

Siegfried parries him and then swings the sword with both of his arms, and Raphael moves aside. Siegfried has a moment to realize what's happening before Raphael lifts a foot and kicks Siegfried's leg out from under him and then brings said foot up to push him into a stumble to the ground. 

(Raph) Hup!

Siegfried catches himself with a hand on the cold ground. He turns and quickly gets to his feet whilst glaring at his opponent.

(Sieg) (thought) Such swiftness!

Raphael raises his brows, smiling.

(Raph) You think me mad?  
(Sieg) Any man would say the same!

Raphael then notices that Siegfried's using both his hands to hold the handle of the Rapier. And then the german lunges to stab him with it. His blade tears through an intangible shadow. He's duly surprised.

(Sieg) What?!

He tries to shield himself whilst Raphael reappears behind him-- the vampire grabs his jaw and sword-hand, jerking him upright.

(Sieg) Nn-!  
(Raph) Every man who's stood in my way has claimed to be well-versed in madness, you know. Adept in all they know nothing about!  
But tell me, my pet. How does a man become great if he does not face adversity?  
(Sieg) And what adversity is there here?!

Raphael smiles and quickly kisses him on the cheek. Siegfried gives a look of surprise before shoving him away.  
Siegfried turns to glare at him again as Raphael raises his hands somewhat.

(Raph) What is insanity, then? Acting strangely?  
Do you not see, then, that the actualization of madness stems from the osmosis of societal rule?  
(Sieg) Do not attempt to confuse me with your prattle. It will not work.

Siegfried raises the rapier in both hands.

(Sieg) Wander from the path that truth's given you, and hope will relinquish your heart! Nothing will change that!

Raphael gives a slight smile before Siegfried attacks him-- Raphael blocks an overhead attack.

(Raph) Truth, they say, is no more than the conformity of minds.

He repels Siegfried, who poses to attack him again.  
Siegfried gives an annoyed growl before swinging at Raphael, but is too far to actually hit him. Raphael dodges easily and laughs.

(Raph) What are you aiming at? Such wasted movement!

He throws his arm out before making a stab at Siegfried.

(Raph) A gentleman has no need for such barbarity!

Siegfried barely parries, stepping back. 

(Sieg) Gh!

Raphael goes to slash at him.

(Raph) It's almost as if you've been swinging around that unwieldy thing since you were born!

Siegfried blocks the strike and a slash goes through his coat. His hair flies back and he stumbles, stepping backward again.  
Raphael follows up with another stab, and Siegfried manages to see through it-- he pushes his rapier aside and winds up to punch Raphael in the face. His fist flies by the other man's head, whilst he gives a surprised expression. Raphael backs up.

(Raph) Did you just try to punch me?!  
I think you misunderstand what constitutes as a "duel" in this situation!  
(Sieg) Allow me to show you the worth of my barbarity!  
Or would you forfeit?

Raphael is not impressed.

(Raph) I do not respond well to provocation, my pet.  
(Sieg) Then run. Make your convenient lies, and hide in your castle!

Raphael quietly boils.

(Raph) Your barbarity is worth nothing.  
(Sieg) Then show me!

And he falls for it-- he swings his sword down, glaring at Siegfried, as he stares back. Siegfried quietly lowers his stance, holding the sword to his side.  
Raphael gives a disinterested sigh through his nose--

(Raph) How many times must a man save you...

He raises his sword.

(Raph) ...Before you show him some humility?

Raphael dashes at Siegfried, stabbing at him three times. Siegfried defends them, and steps back before Raphael lunges at him again.

(Raph) Hah!

It takes all of Siegfried to parry the blow, and he swings his fist wide, his hair swinging with the motion with him-- he belts Raphael in the face with his left hand. Raphael hits the ground on his back.

(Raph) Ahagh!

Siegfried shakes his left hand, his knuckles already bruised long ago. 

(Sieg) _Hoppla_ , wrong hand.

Raphael sits up, feeling a painful shoulder with his right hand. He slowly stands up, glaring at Siegfried. He's a bit shaken.

(Raph) You punched me, you handsome ruffian!  
Swinging your fists about, like you did when I first had you captured!

A brief flashback of Siegfried fighting the armored guards with just his fists-- as Raphael mentioned at the beginning of this story, the Soulcalibur was left at the Tower of... Remembrance? Siegfried gets dog-piled by his opponents.

(Raph) Crafty! I can certainly respect that!  
You do know how to scrap your way through your problems, my pet, but it was not enough!

Raphael points at Siegfried as he quietly stares at him.

(Raph) Sheer brawn has its use, but it will not be enough to defeat me!

Raphael dusts himself off before dashing forward to slash at Siegfried-- the strikes are blocked with difficulty as he backs up, and Siegfried stops, moving forward to hit back-- Raphael dodges a slash, and moves in to stab, lifting one leg-- Siegfried parries him aside, and Raphael turns just in time to get a (right) fist in the face, flinging him to the snowy ground.

(Raph) Haghaah!

Raphael catches himself, wiping blood from his nose. He glares up at Siegfried.

(Raph) A pox upon your trickery!

Siegfried calmly replies, wiping nose-blood on his coat;

(Sieg) You're underestimating me.

Raphael wipes more blood from his nose before slowly standing up and staring at Siegfried, moving around him from a distance.

(Raph) (thought) He couldn't possibly be getting faster, could he?  
Oh, no, no! He's always been this spry, but that cumbrous weapon has been pinning him to a clumsy pace this whole time!

Raphael makes a confused face.

(Raph) (thought) ...Why in the world would he use something like that?  
He wields his weapon as a shield, slipping thrusts aside...  
He then counters at close range with his fists... Fully-armored, that could easily knock the teeth out of a foe.  
Perhaps, then, his tactics are more simple than I'd thought.

Raphael thinks harder.

(Raph) (thought) This might be the first I've encountered such a ploy...

He looks up to Siegfried, who stands away from him, breathing steam into the air. Snow continues to fall. Siegfried raises an eyebrow.

(Raph) (thought) If a battle is what he wants, he will have it.  
And I will have him!

Siegfried holds his sword out before moving to attack Raphael. Raphael defends before Siegfried really starts swinging at him with both hands-- he tries to avoid the hits, and defends the last one-- Raphael's center of balance is pushed aside as he defends a blow away, and he turns his head just as Siegfried is about to punch him again.  
Siegfried pauses mid-punch, and Raphael flinches, squeezing his eyes shut. Raphael opens an eye to look at him in terrified expectation, and Siegfried merely gives a horrible, toothy smile, his fist still raised.  
Raphael then makes an incredulous, almost baffled expression before the other man grabs him by the face, "Fghnh!" and tosses him back, stumbling onto the ground before he catches himself on one knee.  
Raphael bolts to his feet again, panting.

(Raph) Do not toy with me!

He dashes at Siegfried again, stabbing at him. Siegfried dodges, just to be kicked in the shoulder by one of Raphael's long legs. He staggers, and dodges another stab just in time.  
Siegfried swings vertically and Raphael parries, and he blocks a horizontal attack before Siegfried uses a foot to push him back. Snow gets kicked up as Raphael regains his balance.  
Siegfried raises his sword-- and he gathers some kind of intensity as it glimmers in the falling snow-- he heaves the blade behind him before stepping forward and swinging up at Raphael, who takes a single step back before the momentum blows at his coat and hair. Raphael does his best to block the hit-- his arm is blown upward, a force pulling at his hand, and his sword is heaved from his grip and sent flying into the air. He stands back and glares observantly at Siegfried before the Flambert falls-- Siegfried heaves a horizontal strike just as it comes down, and shatters the blade into two pieces.  
Raphael stares, aghast, and catches the hilt in his hands.  
He stares at it, the blade broken off, and raises his head to blankly stare at Siegfried, not entirely grasping what just happened.  
He then starts to laugh. 

(Raph) Ah... ha... ha ha!  
This is impossible. Impossible! Aha ha ha!

Siegfried watches as Raphael slowly regains his composure.

(Raph) But I think of this as one of your many virtues, my pet. I shall overlook it for now.  
I'd like you to properly think on what you've done. So.

He waves in the guards.

(Raph) Please, go to your room.  
Now.

Guards close in around the courtyard.  
Siegfried's expression turns to an unimpressed dread before he's dragged away, struggling. In front of the spiral tower door to Siegfried's room, Raphael warns him.

(Raph) This is merely a setback. Don't think that you've won.

Siegfried grits his teeth in anger and annoyance before suddenly lifting a foot and kicking Raphael in the face.  
Raphael falls back, unconscious and is caught by guards, his spirit seeping out of his mouth, lol.  
They throw Siegfried in the tower room with a "THUD!"  
The captive glares as the door is slammed closed.  
Tired, Siegfried resigns to the room and looks about before turning to the window-- he sighs before resting his head in his hands. 

(Sieg) (thought) ...An unholy mist of death and misery fills this place. That man... he's lain a curse at the feet of every living being-- and it was I who'd lain it at his!  
My doing... An endless poison sprung from the evil in my own heart! And I am trapped here, in the midst of this madness again!  
...No. I won't give in. After all my years of fighting, I won't!  
If not for my own soul... then for the _prinzessin_ , who has placed her faith in me.

Almost suddenly he looks up, looking at the moon in the early twilight of morning.

(Sieg) My charge...  
There's something... something I can do here...!

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Siegfried has a nightmare, quite literally, as he's wrestling with the Azure Knight, who tops him over his back, pushing down on his ribs. He gasps, a crack, and then blood from his mouth as he cries out. He wakes up with a start on the hard, wooden bed in the tower room in Raphael's castle. He looks at his hands, and turns-- Amy is standing nearby with a plate of food. She approaches.

(Sieg) ...  
(Amy) You seemed to be having a nightmare.  
(Sieg) I was.  
That's...  
(Amy) This is for you. Don't worry, there is no human blood in it.

Siegfried takes it.

(Sieg) This is... your doing?

Amy shakes her head

(Amy) Father sent me.  
(Sieg) ...All this and he still refuses to call me by my name.

Amy thinks for a moment.

(Amy) Father... does not know your name.  
(Sieg) ...I suppose that's to be expected...  
Siegfried. Tell your father that my name is Siegfried.  
(Amy) I am Amy.  
(Sieg) Ah, yes. Good to meet you, Amy.

They briefly shake hands.

(Amy) ...You speak French well, Mr. Siegfried.  
(Sieg) I have an accent, then.  
(Amy) You sound like someone from _Allemagne._  
(Sieg) I am. My father was a mercenary in the Kingdom of France for a few years when I was a young boy. I learned much of what I know of your language there.  
(Amy) You are doing well.

She takes his hand and pats it lightly.

(Sieg) Ah... thank you.

He eats some of the food she'd given him.

(Sieg) I don't understand what your father would want from me, a man... What can I do for him?  
He acts as if I can... bear his children. Even if I were a woman, I'd refuse.  
(Amy) Why don't you escape?  
(Sieg) ... ...Well, if there's a chance I can undo what's happened to this countryside... I suppose I will bear the indignance, as much as I can.  
Your father is cursed by the Evil Sword, as I was. And as he saved me from it, I will do the same for him.  
I will save him.  
(Amy) How?  
(Sieg) ... ...When your father captured me and brought me here... I was stripped of all I had-- my armor, mail, my shoes, even.  
I... Promise me you will not tell your father this.  
Do you swear it?  
(Amy) Yes.  
(Sieg) Good girl.  
I had with me a shard of the Holy Stone.  
A green pendant. Have you... seen it?

She thinks for a moment.

(Amy) ...I do not know.  
(Sieg) So long as he hasn't destroyed it.  
It is of much worth to me, if my plan is true. I must find it.  
I won't ask you to help me, to conspire against your father.

Amy looks at him before getting up and retrieving the plates.

(Sieg) Thank you... for bringing me food, by the way.

Amy just gives him a weak smile before leaving. After a while Siegfried tries the door, to find it unlocked.

(Sieg) ...Amy...

He leaves and wanders the hallways, looking at the architecture, avoiding the guards. He finds another tower and follows the stairs up, to a small room. There's a large window with a seat in front of it, the ceiling is low. Well, relatively low for someone who's 5'6" I suppose. There's a large cabinet in the back and in his curiosity Siegfried opens it. Behind him, though, a figure lying on a couch-ish thing rises from under a blanket, a book on their face. Siegfried freezes and turns to see Raphael as he lowers the book in his hand.

(Raph) ...What would you be doing all the way up here, my pet? Not to mention you're out of your room...  
Oh? I see you've discovered my _Apothicaire_.  
(Sieg) ...You're an Alchemist?

Raphael stands up, approaching Siegfried.

(Raph) At times. Oh, don't worry, I only poison people I don't like. You're quite safe.  
(Sieg) You seemed angry yesterday.

Raphael slowly backs Siegfried against the wall next to the window.

(Raph) I was. 

He pulls the hilt of the Flambert from behind him [hammer space].

(Raph) See this? I've got the best Blacksmith in this God-forsaken land piecing the shattered blade back together, but I doubt any work here can best the steel of Normandy.  
This was an heirloom. I require compensation.  
(Sieg) Compensation...  
(Raph) Yes. You have two choices: kiss me... or let me touch you.  
(Sieg) ...I refuse.  
(Raph) I don't believe you're in the position to do so.  
(Sieg) ...Humiliating...  
(Raph) ...You would sooner do things by your own will, I see.

Raph backs off, walking through the room as Siegfried watches, glaring.

(Sieg) ...  
...Why did you surrender to the Soul Edge.  
(Raph) I didn't surrender to anything.  
(Sieg) Why were you searching for it?

Raphael stops, still facing away.

(Raph) Hmph. Why were you searching for the Holy Blade?  
(Sieg) I needed strength.  
(Raph) You see?  
(Sieg) Do you realize what you're doing to the people of this land?  
(Raph) I don't care.  
(Sieg) It's utterly selfish.

Raphael turns to the other man;

(Raph) No it's not.  
...? Who--? 

Raphael walks next to Siegfried and opens the window, pushing it out. Poking his head out, he sees a group of soldiers, led by Hildegard von Krone, who looks up at him. A (sentient) guard is nearby, and calls up to him.

(Guard) Lord Raphael!  
(Hilde) Are you lord of this castle?  
(Raph) Go away!

Siegfried peeks.

(Sieg) (thought) ... _Hoheit!_  
(Hilde) We are searching for a missing comrade.  
His name is Siegfried.  
Siegfried Schtauffen.

Siegfried sinks out of view of the window, avoiding being seen.

(Sieg) (thought) ...Forgive me, Prinzessin... I cannot leave this place while there is much for me to do. You're better off not knowing where I am.  
(Raph) I don't know anyone with that name, so go bother some other castle!  
(Hilde) Raphael, was it? Strange a Frenchman would own a castle here in Walachei.  
(Raph) Strange that foreigners would come so deep into the countryside to look for a single man!  
(Hilde) Alright, sir. We shall leave you be.  
Come, men, we depart!

Raphael and Siegfried watch as the group of knights leave. Raphael closes the window and turns his attention to Siegfried, studying him for a few moments. He tries to get closer but the German refuses his advances, pushing him away.

(Raph) Certainly you aren't always this prudish. How can I convince you to repose?  
(Sieg) By my own will I will never lay with you.  
(Raph) Is that so...  
(Sieg) I suppose now you will poison me?

Raphael takes a step back.

(Raph) No, I won't. I have faith that if I try hard enough... you will come to want me, from your very heart. I'll make sure of it.  
(Sieg) ...Although I doubt that will happen... know that I... appreciate you not forcing yourself upon me.  
(Raph) But of course. There will be a time when gentlemen shall inherit the world, you know. Ha!

Siegfried raises a reserved brow.

(Sieg) ... ...Perhaps you do know honor, then. Here.

Siegfried signals towards himself and Raphael quietly approaches, somewhat curious. Siegfried gently takes his face and awkwardly kisses Raphael's cheek. The Frenchman stands back, hand upon his face, surprised.

(Sieg) ...Compensation, yes?  
(Raph) O-Oh yes, that will do.  
Ah, right! ...What are you doing here?

Siegfried jumps a little.

(Sieg) ! I... I was looking for the bathroom...  
(Raph) You won't find it in my cupboards, my pet.  
(Sieg) ...  
(Raph) Come, I will show you where it is, and guide you back to your room.

Raphael drags Siegfried out. As they move down the spiral staircase and through a hallway, they're approached by Auguste (Raphael's follower with the wolf face for some reason).

(Aug) Lord Raphael!  
(Raph) What is it now?  
(Aug) We've apprehended two men at the front gate... They said they wish to see the lord of the castle.  
(Raph) Good blood, can no-one have a castle in the middle of nowhere without constant scrutiny?

He opens the front doors slightly and sees two very meek-looking men being held by guards.

(Raph) I'm a popular man today! _What do you want_.

A nearby (sentient) guard translates between Raphael and the man.

(Man) Ahem... on behalf of the _Voivode_ , we are taking census of the castle's inhabitants for the purpose of taxation.  
(Raph) We, um...

He turns to Siegfried behind the door.

(Sieg) What are you going to do? They can't know you've taken over an abandoned castle. What if they think the French are invading?  
(Raph) Well... This castle wasn't abandoned, per say.  
(Sieg) Wh-What?! They don't have to know that!

Raphael turns to the men again.

(Raph) ...We're just passing through, you see... There wasn't anyone here when we got here.  
(Man) ...A Wallachian Government official lived here on last inspection.  
(Raph) !!  
(Man) If he's gone missing we must have an investigation.

Raphael turns to Siegfried again.

(Raph) ...What should I do?  
(Sieg) Why are you asking me?!

He turns back to the man.

(Raph) While you're here, won't you come in and have some tea?  
(Man) We must report back to begin this investigation immediately. It's very important.  
(Raph) Ah, ha ha... Capture them.

They're thrown in the castle dungeon and the door is locked behind them.

(Men) (in romanian) You cannot do this! Release us or we will have your head! The Voivode will know of this!  
(Sieg) What are you doing?! You can't hold them here forever, their superiors will find out they've gone missing!  
(Raph) Do you have a better idea? I'm buying us time!

Siegfried sighs and holds his head.

(Raph) My pet, I trust you to return to your room, alright? I must prepare in case men come looking for these two. Come!

He signals to the men with him and they leave. Siegfried walks to the iron cell door and peers into the eye-hole thing.

(Sieg) _Jemand sprach deutsche? Francais?_  
(Men) Free us, devils!! Let us go!!

Siegfried sighs and draws away.

(Sieg) I must find the Holy Stone, quickly. This cannot continue.

Siegfried dashes from the room and sneaks down the hallway. A door opens and he steps inside. The lighting's low as he looks around to see a multitude of weapons scaling the walls, with shelves dividing the room into halls. He walks in, observing.

(Sieg) (thought) ...As naked as I feel without a blade, by that blutsauger's protection I have no enemies here but him... I have no need to spill blood in this castle.

He continues until he reaches the end of a hall with two suits of the castle-knight's armor book-ending something covered in cloth. Siegfried approaches and casts off the cloak to reveal the suit of armor he was wearing before he arrived there.

(Sieg) (thought) Ah! Here-- the missing part of me! I am much myself as I am what keeps me from harm-- this is as if a shell of me.  
Such relief to see something so familiar in this damned place. But...

He breaks a piece of the remaining crystal off, as most of it is on the floor next to the suit.

(Sieg) (thought) ...The Holy Blade's influence is fading, even now.  
Hm. I suppose it's to be expected.

(He recalls his fight with Nightmare, before picking up a gauntlet and looking at the warped knuckles. He searches the armor, around it. Making a disappointed face he continues through the shelves, around the room.)

(Sieg) (thought) ...It's not here. The stone. Where could it be?

Siegfried gives up his search.

(Sieg) (thought) With the breadth of this castle... the stone could be anywhere.

Later. The door of "Siegfried's" room busts open and Raphael steps in.

(Raph) My pet!

Siegfried turns from reading a book by the window at sunset.

(Raph) Oh? Where did you get that?  
(Sieg) I found it in the wardrobe there.  
(Raph) ...I was unaware that you could read.  
(Sieg) ...Reading in _Franzosisch_ is difficult for me, but I'm going insane with boredom, locked up in here.  
(Raph) Well, you may be happy knowing that you're going on an outing with me. Right now.  
(Sieg) I haven't been "happy" a day in my life.  
(Raph) Let today be the first then, hm?

Raphael hands him fresh clothes. Siegfried takes them and sighs. Later, they're outside. They pass by the guards and Siegfried looks at them. They start in a small path.

(Sieg) Where are we going?  
(Raph) To my garden, my pet.  
(Sieg) Your... garden?  
(Raph) Oh, yes. I have a plan, you see.  
You remember my Apothecary, yes?  
(Sieg) I do.  
(Raph) My plan is this, then... I feed our guests a lovely meal with a slightly surprising side-effect: they won't remember ever coming here.  
We take them, drop them in the middle of the woods somewhere, and they'll find their way home eventually.  
(Sieg) ...As careful as you usually are, I suppose.  
What if they send more like them?  
(Raph) Then perhaps we'll test how many times I can pull this off.  
(Sieg) ...Careless...  
(Raph) I don't suppose you have experience identifying poisonous plants, my pet?  
(Sieg) I thought you said you were going to make them forget being here?  
(Raph) In moderation, poison can do many things. Good things, bad things. I know for certain you are a man of simple philosophy; full of sound and fury, signifying what exactly?  
(Sieg) At least it's honest.  
(Raph) Honest! Well, I've merely chosen to utilize my intelligence to its fullest. It's a given I could not defeat most in a test of sheer... barbaric... strength. Not as if I would choose to if I could.  
And to speak of honesty-- your mind-game yesterday cost me a broken lip!  
(Sieg) I would apologize, but I don't know if you deserve it.  
(Raph) Hmph.

Siegfried looks meekly at him.

(Sieg) ...I'm sorry.

Raphael is amused;

(Raph) Ah-hm-hm! You know... All that time ago... to think it was you under that blue armor.  
Quiet, merciful... sometimes apologetic.  
When I'd met you back then you were a savage animal, ready to tear me to pieces.  
I must say, I do rather you as you are now.  
(Sieg) Forgive me.

Raphael gives an observant smile.

(Raph) Ah, here we are.  
Careful you don't step on anything.

Siegfried follows Raphael down a mossy set of stone stairs to a lovely little garden. Siegfried looks around in a sort of wonder at all the different plants and flowers growing about.

(Raph) If you like, you could just sit over there and look pretty.  
(Sieg) I would sooner like to aid you. We need to help those men return as soon as we can.  
(Raph) I shall think about it. Oh, here's one.

Raphael bends down and unsheathes a small knife. As he's cutting a piece of the plant a nearby sprout starts to move. It slowly peeks above the soil. Raphael looks at it, a Mandragora, as it whines at him.

(Raph) Ah! You again...

It starts to wail at him as he pushes it back into the ground.

(Raph) Go... back... in the... ground!

It goes back, but peeks out again, wailing once more. He gives it a deadly glare.

(Raph) Ever the problem child!

He picks up a rock and slams it on top of the creature, trapping it in the soil.

(Raph) Hmph!  
Oh, my pet, you could help me after all.  
(Sieg) Y-Yes?  
(Raph) I need a flower-- the shape of a bell, blue. Here's a knife.

He hands one over.

(Raph) I trust you won't stab me with it. Next to a tree just some steps o'er there.  
Do be careful.  
(Sieg) ...Careful?

Raphael just gives a wary grimmace. Siegfried walks through the garden, knife in hand. He stops in front of a veritable wall with a sleeping face-- a Green Man, if you will.

(Sieg) ...

At its feet are flowers, some of which fit Raphael's description. Siegfried lowers and cuts one off before glancing up to see the sleeping face. He cuts another flower and looks up again-- the Green Man is looking at him.

(Sieg) Hah!

He steps back, startled.

(Green) Do not be frightened, child.  
(Sieg) I trust nothing in this countryside.  
(Green) I was here for a long time, long before the one who inherited this garden. You have awoken me.

Siegfried listens, curious.

(Green) As you drew near, I smelled you-- the smell of blood, and of fear. Of forgetting and remembering.  
And, the smell of rebirth.  
(Sieg) ...  
(Green) Come closer, child, once more.

A mossy vine pushes against Siegfried's back, bringing him closer to the face in the green.

(Green) Ah, yes... you have felt the cold of despair, have you not? Our world's lowest belly was once yours.  
Where does your anger go?  
(Sieg) ...It goes to He who deserves it. He and the hand that holds him.  
(Green) And still you fear. But hear the quietest whisper of truth; death has no plans for you, for here you still stand.  
(Sieg) I have my forgiveness. I shall have peace in my heart, someday.

He smiles, somewhat weakly.

(Green) Ah... yes, the smell of rebirth. The heart turning to ash, and burning red again in its life.  
Go on, child--

A pebble hits the Green Man. Siegfried turns and sees Raphael pointing.

(Raph) Leave him be, morve-visage!  
Turn one more resident against me and I'll carve you from the green!

Siegfried turns to the Green Man to see he's gone back to sleep.

(Sieg) ...Thank you.

He then returns to Raphael and hands him the flowers and knife.

(Raph) Thank you, my pet.  
Now, I have an offer for you, if you'll hear me.  
(Sieg) ?

Raphael takes from his pocket a small pouch and pulls from it a pendant-- the Holy Stone.

(Sieg) !  
(Raph) You were looking for this, yes? How could I not know-- it's certainly yours, you were wearing it when you came here, and my daughter was searching through her jewelry after I sent her to bring food to you.  
You want it, yes?  
(Sieg) ...  
(Raph) I hesitate to offer it because, to be frank, it makes me feel uncomfortable. It's familiar somehow-- and it makes me think of danger...  
It's suspicious. So.  
I shall give it to you, but...  
(Sieg) You want something in return.  
(Raph) Why, yes. That's fair, isn't it?  
Once again I will give you two choices...  
...Let me pleasure you, or...  
...Let me decide what you wear for one day.  
(Sieg) ...Everything I said about you having honor...  
(Raph) You take it so seriously. Do not worry, I will dress you appropriately.  
(Sieg) You already decide what I wear.  
(Raph) Indeed I do, but... for one day I would like to dress you as a lady. I'm curious to see how convincing you would be.  
(Sieg) Of course, I refuse.  
(Raph) No deal, hm? Well, unless you change your mind, I shall keep this.

Raphael puts the pendant back in the bag and puts it back in his pocket. Siegfried gives a conflicted expression.

(Sieg) ...  
(Raph) ...What is its relevance, anyway? Why do you want it?  
(Sieg) ! ...I-It was a gift... from... my mother...

(Apologies, Margaret, lol.)

(Raph) Unfortunately for you, my heart does not feel familial sympathy.  
Unless, of course, you're a young girl pining for her father.  
Well, since we have no more to talk about, let us return to the castle to prepare our potion, shall we?

They return whilst Raphael's in a sunny mood. Siegfried, of course, is troubled. Back in the castle's Alchemy room Raphael's rolling his sleeves up.

(Sieg) (thought) ...I suppose the trade could be worse. I cannot fathom his personal reasons for wanting to see me dressed as a woman, but if I were to play along... I could put an end to his malefestation, and that of the entire area...  
I know my heart tells me to bear it, but my pride...

Raphael is crushing stuff with a mortar and pestle.

(Sieg) ...If I were to... accept your gesture...  
(Raph) Considering it, are we? Which are you asking about?  
(Sieg) I will not even think of your "pleasuring" me.  
(Raph) Well, that's disappointing. So then?  
(Sieg) ...If I accept it... you won't... do... anything, will you?

Raphael lightly raises a brow.

(Raph) ...?  
No, we've had this conversation before-- I won't force myself upon you, at least... not physically.  
_Hmm..._ I hope you won't mind my gazes, though.

Perplexion nigh brings a twitch to the german;

(Sieg) ...  
...I don't... understand your attraction to me.  
Why you searched me out, forced me to come here, have kept me under your watch.  
And you hope to convince me to lay with you....  
I cannot give you children-- there's nothing I can give you!  
(Raph) ...  
...You have already given me something.

Siegfried looks genuinely surprised and somewhat confused. Raphael continues to prepare the poison, crushing more ingredients in the mortar.

(Raph) Alright my pet, I'm almost done. For now I must ask the maids to prepare a meal for us all, and I shall mix this in the food for our guests, and then... we will see.

~Later~ One of the maids in the kitchen is preparing two plates of delicious-looking food. Amy watches from the doorway as Raphael and Siegfried approach them. The maid turns, two plates in hand. Raphael sets the bottle of poison down behind him to take the plates. As he speaks, Amy sneaks in behind them.

(Raph) Ah, yes. Thank you, my dear.  
Mmm, do smell this, pet. All the maids in this castle, I've taught them to cook like the finest chefs of Rouen.  
(Sieg) I can't imagine you cooking...

Amy switches the bottle with her own, suspiciously similar. She giggles to herself.

(Raph) No? Cooking is really no different from chemistry, you see. Proportion, temperature, a harmony of ingredients. 

Amy slinks out the door as Raphael sets down the two plates and grabs the bottle behind him.

(Raph) Careful, now... 

Raphael begins stirring some of the poison in carefully as Siegfried observes closely.

(Raph) ...Now there's something I like about you, my pet-- you breathe so quietly.  
(Sieg) I suppose you hear everything.  
(Raph) Hmm... If I concentrate enough, I suppose. I hear... the voices of men, cursing the lord of this castle in Romanian...  
(Sieg) Suppose you were serious for a moment.  
(Raph) It would hardly be a moment I enjoy, truthfully.  
Alright, I think we're done here.

In a few moments the doors of the cell are thrown open and the two messengers are dragged out by the castle guard, also accompanied by a translator-guard.

(Men) Unhand us!  
(Raph) I hope you're both quite hungry because I've decided to hear your case over a meal.  
(Men) You'll hang for this!  
(Raph) Neither of you are in a position for threats, I'm afraid.  
Now, we've really begun on a sour note. State your reasons for being here and we will reach civil conclusion over some delicious, warm food, hm?

They're dragged down the hall with Raphael in lead. Soon everyone's sitting around that long table, quiet as a leveled forest. One of the men is staring at Siegfried, who tries not to think anything of it. Raphael finishes reading a letter as his translator translates it. Everyone seems to be eating.

(Raph) I see.  
(Man) ...That letter was meant for the eyes of the one who lived here last we came. Where is he?  
(Raph) Where is he... Where is he...

The messenger who isn't talking looks a bit ill. Siegfried glances at Raphael.

(Raph) Well, I know for certain he isn't here.  
(Man) When the Voivode hears of this...  
(Raph) I suppose it would be quite a shock.

Everyone looks at Raphael. The other messenger starts to cough.

(Raph) Because the man who was here before me...  
He is dead.

Shock from the messenger.

(Man) You... You creat-- urgh!

Both of the messengers go into a coughing fit as Siegfried and Raphael stare. The men seize up, mouths foaming, and then ragdoll in their chairs. Siegfried bolts up from his seat. Raphael is completely straightened with surprise. Siegfried tries to feel the pulse of one of them. He looks at Raphael.

(Sieg) Dead.

Raphael starts to laugh uncontrollably. He laughs and laughs as Siegfried stands still, glaring at him. Amy drapes a handkerchief over the foamy face of the nearest man and crosses herself.

(Raph) ...Oh... That was certainly unexpected!  
(Sieg) Why are you laughing-- the purpose of this was to leave them somewhere unharmed to draw suspicion from this castle!  
(Raph) There's no need to be so angry, my pet. You are right, our plans are for naught. I will admit it's somewhat frustrating.  
Although... I'm sure my concoction was correct...

He glances accusingly at Amy, who deflects his stare with utter coolness.

(Raph) ...  
(Sieg) What will we do now?!

Raphael slaps his palm to his forehead dramatically.

(Raph) Ahh, give me some time. I suppose I will think of something.  
(Sieg) I certainly hope you do.

Later on, Siegfried's leaning against a hall window, looking at the early sunrise. Raphael approaches him.

(Raph) Follow me.

Siegfried obeys. They walk.

(Sieg) Have you thought of a plan?  
(Raph) Unfortunately there's naught we can do but dispose of their bodies far from here or make it seem like an accident somehow. Which it was, you know.  
(Sieg) Their superiors won't hear us.  
(Raph) Indeed... I will have to think on this some more.

They stop in a dark room and Siegfried gives a cloudy expression.

(Raph) I suppose you feel guilty about this.  
(Sieg) They weren't meant to die here. It is as much your fault for poisoning them as it is mine for going along with it.  
(Raph) You know... I never thought of it that way; you assisted me in killing two men through your faith, was it not?  
Well, worry not. What's done cannot be undone. You see this room? It is my chamber. If you ever need me during the daylight, I will be resting here. 

Raphael crawls into a coffin.

(Sieg) Ah--  
(Raph) Yes, my pet?  
(Sieg) I have... thought of your offer. And... although it pains my pride, I will... accept.  
(Raph) Well. I am very glad for that.  
I thought you would, actually, so I'd sent a lovely outfit to your room not too long ago. Do tell me what you think of it.  
(Sieg) ...

Siegfried leaves and opens the door to "his" tower-room. Approaching the bed he finds... a French Maid suit. He burns with a quiet fury. Then he rushes to the armory, grabs an Arquebus and loads it. He then shows up in Raphael's room and stands over the coffin, aiming straight down at it.

(Sieg) _Perverser Mensch!_

POOM! A hole is blown through the coffin, the iron bullet blasting next to Raphael's left shoulder. In the smoke and dust he looks positively petrified. And in a moment Siegfried is dragged away by guards while laughing amusedly.  
They throw him in "his" room again. Raphael slams the door closed and puts his back to it like they'd just trapped a tiger in there. The moon hangs in the window again as Siegfried howls with mindless laughter.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

(Sieg) I- I refuse!  
(Marienbard) Monsieur pet...  
(Sieg) Don't call me that!

Marienbard and Jaqueline are trying to push Siegfried through a door, but he's solid in-spot.

(Jaqueline) Monsieur pet, if you don't co-operate--  
(Sieg) Not here-- not in his presence!  
(Marienbard) Sir--!

They push him through the door and Siegfried stumbles into an old master bedroom, mostly neglected. Raphael stands next to the bed, away from him, looking at the innumerable gouges cut into a canopy pole. Siegfried's quiet for a moment, looking at him. We don't see his face.  
Jaqueline points him towards a divider with a small, wooden bathtub behind it, steaming with hot water. Siegfried throws his head to the side defiantly.

(Marienbard) ...Please, monsieur pet, if you don't co-operate...  
(Jaqueline) ...Master Raphael will reprimand us. 

Siegfried stops, stinging with guilt. He crosses his arms.

(Sieg) If that's the case... I'll do it myself.

Siegfried walks over and turns towards Raphael before he walks behind the divider.

(Sieg) ...  
...You'll stay over there, won't you?  
(Raph) But of course, my pet.

Siegfried gives him a look before walking behind the divider.

(Raph) My apologies, this is the only room with a functioning bath, and I wanted to speak with you.

Siegfried starts to undress.

(Sieg) Is that so.  
(Raph) I just want to make a few things clear.

Siegfried says nothing as he lays his shirt over the wooden divider. Raphael on the other hand, lifts a rapier from a nearby table.

(Raph) I am not a man of many rules. The inhabitants of this castle follow me, but they have relative freedom to do as they wish.

Siegfried quietly steps into the tub and sinks into it.

(Raph) But one rule I shall make for you that you should never break again:  
You are not permitted to shoot the lord of this castle.

Siegfried gives a weak flinch as he sits in the bath.

(Sieg) ...Perhaps I had... over-reacted somewhat.

Raphael moves his right hand behind his back and holds the sword out in a stance.

(Sieg) I did agree to your request, after all. And... as I think of it... the result did not warrant an attempt on your life. 

The sword hits the canopy pole, once and again.

(Sieg) Please... accept my apology.

Raphael sighs, and we finally see his face. He rests the tip of the rapier in the wooden floor.

(Raph) ...You're a big man, my pet. I accept your apology.  
Oh--

He tosses a cloth over the divider and Siegfried catches it.

(Raph) Do you need any help?  
(Sieg) For what?  
(Raph) Why, that long hair of yours.  
(Sieg) ... ...Have you a bucket there?  
(Raph) Yes, I do.

He carries it over, hands it to Siegfried, avoiding coming close enough to see his body. Siegfried picks up a bucket of water and holds it up to Raphael.

(Sieg) Here.

Raphael takes it and carefully pours the water over Siegfried's head. Siegfried then puts his hair aside and from his face, and as Raphael puts the bucket to the side he sees the German attempting to wash his back.

(Raph) May I?  
(Sieg) ...If you won't... try anything, I suppose.

Raphael rolls his sleeves up and takes the cloth, washing Siegfried's shoulders. He notices a texture of some scars amid freckles. He runs a finger over one.

(Sieg) What are you doing.  
(Raph) Searching for the patch on your back that the dragon's blood left.

Siegfried laughs to himself.

(Sieg) Leave me be.  
(Raph) As you wish.

Raphael stands up and returns to the foot of the bed, picking up the sword there again. He falls back into stance.

(Raph) What were you?  
(Sieg) What was I?  
(Raph) Before you had searched for the holy blade.  
(Sieg) ...Why do you ask?  
(Raph) I'm merely curious.  
(Sieg) I was a mercenary.

Raphael strikes the canopy pole.

(Raph) Aha, I see.  
(Sieg) Is that what you expected?  
(Raph) Quite. You see, only a sellsword's fist would meet my face as earnestly as yours.  
(Sieg) Are you not wary of them meeting again?  
(Raph) Do spare me, my pet!

Later on, Siegfried is drying with a towel (or towel equivalent). He tosses it aside and maids hand him things to wear. Meanwhile there's a knock on the door and Raphael answers it. Auguste's on the other side.

(Raph) I hope this is important, you're cutting into my maid appraisal time.  
(Aug) W-Well, sir... there's someone at the door who wants to speak to the lord of this castle.  
(Raph) Not again!

Raphael throws the front door open.

(Raph) What do you--

Outside is a very serious-looking guy in a uniform. He hands Raphael rolled parchment roughly.

(Man) I am here to investigate the disappearance of two of the Voivode's officials. I am going to search this castle.

Raphael blanches more than usual.

(Raph) H-Hold on a moment, the place is quite a mess and... I believe I left my chemistry equipment on.

He slams the door shut and hastily puts his back to it before running to the master bedroom again.  
He throws the door open in a panic. And then he sees, just as he's turning, Siegfried in full-fledged maid-wear. Raphael takes his time looking him over, walking around him, Siegfried trying to follow his gaze the entire time. Raphael puts the roll of parchment under his arm and takes Siegfried's hands, posing them in a quaint one-hand-in-the-other in front of him. He stands back.

(Raph) Lovely!

Siegfried points at the roll under Raphael's arm.

(Sieg) What's that?  
(Raph) Ah! This! Someone is here to find the whereabouts of those two gentlemen we poisoned.  
(Sieg) _Vas?!_ Did I not say this was bound to happen?!  
(Raph) Jaqueline, Marienbard-- lead him to the dining room and do keep him there 'til I return. My pet-- you and I shall hide the bodies.  
(Sieg) _Um Himmels willen!_  
(Raph) Think of it as an adventure, my pet. One that our lives depend on.  
Alright then, go! Go!

The maids take off and Raphael leads Siegfried off, to the dungeon. He opens the steel door with a key, and a blast of stank and flies burst into the air, Siegfried makes a face while Raphael coughs.

(Raph) Good afternoon, gentlemen-- _cough cough_ \-- oh dear, my eyes are watering.  
Alright, let's get this over with, shall we?

Raphael helps Siegfried put one on his back, and the French guy freezes suddenly.

(Sieg) What is it?  
(Raph) A-Absolutely nothing, my pet! 

Siegfried rolls his eyes and they continue. Raphael leads into the entrance hall, and they hide for a moment as Marienbard, Jaqueline and the officer enter the dining room. Raphael and Siegfried go outside. They track through some shallow snow.

(Raph) Quickly, this way.

Siegfried follows Raphael under a path of bowing trees, sheltering the cobblestone from snow.

(Sieg) (thought) ...To think, I'd helping this man conceal corpses-- and to do it dressed like this! I've swallowed my pride so deep I should find it at my toes!  
(Raph) You know, perhaps you could have left being a sellsword to pursue a career as a maid. It suits you well.  
(Sieg) Let's not speak of these things whilst we have dead men on our backs, yes?

Raphael kicks a rusty, bronze gate open to reveal a well inside a small, cramped opening surrounded by brick wall and a ceiling of tight hedgery. It's almost pitch-black in there.  
Raphael drops his charge, head thudding against the well's stone. He pulls out a keyring with a gazillion keys on it.

(Raph) ...By my... frost-bitten fingers... if-- five-hundred years from now keys are still held individually, forcing us to stand out in the cold to count them else we never find the right one...  
(Sieg) T'would be a dark future for humanity, I suppose. Or perhaps by the time they should be wondering how you became immortal.  
(Raph) Oh-ha-ha-ha.

How, or why. The cover of the well is lifted away.

(Raph) Oh. It's not there today.  
(Sieg) What's not there?  
(Raph) A, um... bright red light sometimes appears in the dark down there...  
(mumbling) And... a chorus of screaming voices once...  
(Sieg) Wh-What?  
(Raph) Oh, nothing to concern yourself with, my pet. Alright then.

Raphael picks up one guy with some difficulty and shoves him in. SPLASH! He helps Siegfried pick up the other and the German hesitates.

(Sieg) ...Eventually we must retrieve the bodies of these men and drop them in the woods like we planned, yes?  
(Raph) Like we planned? Oh-- oh yes, of course, my pet. That we shall.

They drop the body in. GSHH! Raphael closes the well and locks it before they return.  
Raphael enters the dining hall with Siegfried following, pretending to be a maid in the situation. The officer's eyes scrape over the German as Raphael sits down across from him. A translator appears again.

(Raph) I understand you wish to investigate this castle for two missing men.  
(Man) I will not take long.  
(Raph) I certainly hope you don't. I have things to do, you know.  
(Man) Then let us begin.

The officer once again looks upon Siegfried in what could be described as suspicion. The officer searches through the rooms one after the other, looking for places to hide dead bodies and followed by Raphael.

(Man) ...Where are you from, sir?  
(Raph) Oh-- me? I, uh...

Siegfried leans in to whisper to him.

(Sieg) ...Don't lie, or it will lead to more lies.  
(Raph) I come a long way, from France.

The officer gives him a suspicious look.

(Man) Why does a man from Franţa own a castle here?

Raphael elbows Siegfried in the side. "Mm!"

(Raph) I and my servants were passing through, on a pilgrimage. We aim to meet... friends of ours on the Silk Road.  
(Man) I see. So there was no-one here when you arrived.  
(Raph) That is correct.

They continue through some rooms, the officer looking under beds, finding Siegfried's earlier clothing, knocking floors and walls for hollow spots. He finds Raphael's cabinet of chemicals.

(Man) What in the world--  
(Raph) Oh! My! God! What is all of that?  
(Sieg) (mumbles) You could at least put some effort into your act!

The officer drops a bottle and it breaks.

(Man) Oh.  
(Raph) Chop-chop!

He claps and Siegfried flinches. He cleans it up begrudgingly, glaring at Raphael as the French one laughs it up to himself.

(Raph) This reminds me-- I must show you an absolutely dreadful room I discovered in the basement!

Raphael leads the inspector to his "bedroom" downstairs, opens the door--

(Raph) Do look!

The officer hesitates before taking a torch and walking down the stone staircase. He sees a large coffin and warily approaches-- slowly he opens it and looks inside-- there's nothing but dirt. He steps back.

(Man) Dear God...!

He crosses himself and stomps out of the basement in a hurry, pushing Raphael aside. He catches Siegfried waiting at the door and takes his hand quickly, bringing the German's knuckles to his lips momentarily. Siegfried is somewhat petrified.

(Man) (In Romanian) ...You must leave this place. 

The officer then leaves, slamming the door behind him. As Siegfried exerts several question marks, Raphael bursts into laughter.

(Raph) Oh-hahahaha! Oh the people of this country! Ha ha ha ha!

Siegfried looks at his hand, confused.

(Raph) Hm? Where could Amy have gone? I haven't seen her at all today!  
Marienbard!

Marienbard pokes out of a door.

(Marienbard) Yes, sir.  
(Raph) Fetch Amy, will you? I must drag some corpses from the well.  
(Marienbard) Yes, sir.

She ducks out and Raphael approaches Siegfried as they both leave the castle doors to return to the well.

(Raph) I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds you handsome today.  
(Sieg) Perhaps both of you merely share the same bizarre sense of aesthetics.  
(Raph) Oh my. Not to insult you, but... If truly you were a maiden, it would take a man of respectable tastes to see your true beauty beneath that terribly unfortunate scar.  
(Sieg) Well, a relief, then, to know you are not a man of respectable tastes.  
(Raph) You wound me, my pet. Does no word of affection sneak past that sharp tongue of yours?  
(Sieg) I do not give affection where affection is not due.  
(Raph) Oh, again! I show you my heart, and once! Twice! You thrust your steel upon it!  
(Sieg) Please, stop your prattling and open the well.  
(Raph) As you wish, my pet. Ah--

Raphael shines the lantern over the well to see the cover's been broken off.

(Raph) _Sacred blue_ , what has happened here?

Siegfried inspects the well.

(Sieg) Did something... break into it?

Raphael shakes his head, picking up a shard, and holds it in its former position.

(Raph) ...By the way this piece is splintered here... see? This suggests that something has, in fact, broken _out_.  
(Sieg) Oh, I see...

They both jolt.

(Raph) _Quoi?!_  
(Sieg) _Vas?!_

Raphael throws his head into the well, trying to see the bottom.

(Raph) Hm? Hm? Hm??  
(Sieg) So? What do you see?

Raphael stands up.

(Raph) Absolutely nothing.  
(Sieg) What were those noises for?!

Raphael soon takes his coat off, rolls up his sleeves, and attempts to enter the well via the bucket rope, which is secured in stone nearby.

(Raph) Now this is truly triple-D work, my pet.

He slides down, lantern in hand. Siegfried bends over, looking into the well after him.

(Raph) Mercy, it is not well-adventure weather!  
(Sieg) Perhaps when we return we could brew some warm tea and you could sit by the fireside, yes?  
(Raph) Would you sit with me, my pet?  
(Sieg) Sigh... If you wish, I suppose.  
(Raph) Excellent motivation, excellent.  
Perchance, I could, ghh... fantasize of your pale body by the fireplace... your long, golden hair-- aaah, dear god! The smell!  
Oh, there's a body decomposing here, that's why.  
(Sieg) Is it one of the officials?!  
(Raph) I'm afraid not... But I've seen portions of this face somewhere before...  
Now, where was that... Oh my. Are those fingernails? How curious.  
(Sieg) Is there any sign of them at all?

Raphael is silent. Siegfried stands up, looking around him in the pitch-dark of the well's grove there. He looks through the rusted gate, unsure of if he saw something move in the distance against the snow.

(Raph) Aha!  
(Sieg) What is it?  
(Raph) This is the decomposing head of the former lord of this castle! I'd forgotten I threw him down here.  
But no, the bodies of the two gentlemen are quite absent.  
(Sieg) Scheiße!

Raphael crawls out of the well with Siegfried's assistance. Siegfried lifts his hand from the well--

(Sieg) Pardon, there's a maggot on your shoulder--

He goes to brush it off but the gleam of his palm catches his and Raphael's attention. It shines red with blood in the lantern-light. They look to the well-side, then further as they see messy, drunken footprints [and hand-prints] of blood on the cobblestone, leading out. They return to the castle, and the three servants are rushing about in a panic.

(Jaqueline) Master Raphael!  
(Raph) Yes? What's happening?  
(Jaqueline) M... Master Amy...!  
(Aug) Sir, she's gone missing!  
(Raphael) ...What?!  
(Aug) We've searched every inch of the castle! She cannot be found!

Raphael bursts into her room, looking about. He stops in his tracks after a moment.

(Raph) ...Her shoes, and her sword are missing.  
Where could she have gone, then?

Raphael shivers, his hand grasping against his chest. Siegfried looks at him worriedly.

(Sieg) Shall we search for her?

Raphael blinks and looks at him.

(Raph) ...Yes. Yes, we shall. My pet, I must ask of you this.  
(Sieg) ?  
(Raph) As... a mercenary, could I hire you for tonight? To help me find my daughter?

Siegfried looks surprised, and then nods.

(Sieg) ...Yes, t'would be my honor. I have but one request in return.  
Grant me my armor.  
(Raph) ... ...So be it, my pet.

Crystal shatters against a stone floor, Siegfried's hair releases from its bun, swaying over his back, Marienbard and Jaqueline lift his armor, free of the Calibur's "ice," and help him fasten each piece.  
His fingers fit into clawed gloves.

(Sieg) (thought) My heart alight, the first time since long ago... I feel the warmth of concern for those dear. I will raise him up-- I will be blessed help, to a father consumed with worry!  
May it be a fire unto the bitterly cold night, unto the dark of despair-- I will be his sword, for mine is the trouble of steel and leather, and in the toil I smell it-- my rebirth!  
With my charge as guardian I draw closer, closer to me, to all my soul set free!  
I stand with my hands, my heart, my body--  
Mine again!

Siegfried stands, clasping his clawed hands, the gauntlets stained with old blood.  
He enters the main hall and sees Raphael fully dressed, holding a sword. With some effort Raphael tosses it to him and he catches-- a claymore.

(Raph) Please refrain from splitting me into two, my pet. At least until I know Amy is safe.  
(Sieg) I promise I will not harm you. Unless I'm made uncomfortable, in which case I will punch you.  
(Raph) A concerning but predictable side-effect to your presence.

They exit the castle in late twilight, into falling snow.

(Raph) Come, my pet. If those two have any relation to this... We have some killing to do.

They set out into the cold morning. After some time, they've traveling through some snowy wood, following tracks those two officials left. Raphael stops, and then continues on their path.

(Sieg) (thought) By his silence, I know his concern. Never have I seen him waver as much but for the safety of his daughter.  
Um...  
(Raph) Yes, my pet?  
(Sieg) ...If I could ask... What of Amy's mother?  
(Raph) I'm not sure.  
(Sieg) Hm?  
(Raph) I've never asked.  
(Sieg) ...?  
...What do you mean?

Raphael looks back to Siegfried and blinks.

(Raph) Oh. Well-- Amy isn't... biologically my daughter.  
(Sieg) Wh-What?  
(Raph) This way.

Raphael gracefully skips over a frozen stream while Siegfried tramples the thin ice.

(Raph) ...Amy saved my life. All I know of her parents... they were taken by /la peste noire/, and to repay her kindness... I took her under my wing. I love her dearly.  
In all I do... I think only of her.

Siegfried is highly surprised that Raphael would have it in his heart to adopt an orphan. Some respect finds its way into his heart.

(Raph) You must understand... if anything were to happen to her...  
(Sieg) It's too early to assume the worst.  
Do not worry, we will find her.  
(Raph) Thank you, my pet.  
...I don't suppose you have any children.

Siegfried laughs.

(Sieg) Perish the thought.  
(Raph) Your parents, then?  
(Sieg) I haven't... seen of my mother in many winters...  
(Raph) Your father?  
(Sieg) Unfortunately I murdered him when I was quite young.  
(Raph) You are full of surprises, aren't you. So steadily those words came from your mouth.  
(Sieg) I've had much time to ponder on my sins. I'm afraid there's not much left to say on them. In any case, it was an accident.

They continue through the snow. Raphael suddenly looks back to the other man.

(Raph) ...I could adopt you, if you wish.  
(Sieg) Oh, ha ha. Th-That's quite alright.  
(Raph) Yes, I suppose it would be very awkward courting my adopted son...  
(Sieg) ...I wonder about your parenting, regardless.  
(Raph) ...My pet...  
(Sieg) ...?  
(Raph) ...You should... speak to that mother of yours. I'm sure she's very worried about you.  
(Sieg) ... ---

A loud howl interrupts them. They look at the pale moon against the lavender twilight. On a hill there a wolf howls.

(Sieg) ...That is no ordinary wolf.  
(Raph) Indeed it is not. We must hurry.

They follow the officials' path towards an open, snowy field peppered with trees. The moon hangs yellow against a lavender sky, resting among the woods' snowy, black trees.

(Raph) Damnable dawn... This is tiring, isn't it...

Siegfried notices part of the snow, moving slightly. He has but a moment to react before a huge, black wolf emerges, leaping open-mouthed towards Raphael. It gets a mouthful of Siegfried's gauntlet instead, before being thrown to the ground.  
Raphael backs up, pulling his rapier from his side.

(Raph) My thanks!

Siegfried pulls the claymore from his back as the wolf rises again, snarling. Its eyes are huge and yellow, with pupils like a mantis. It stands up somewhat, as Siegfried falls into a defensive stance.  
Raphael slashes, and it growls, snapping at him. He moves to the side once, twice, and ducks under a clawed swipe aimed at his head. Siegfried moves in, swinging at the animal's face, his blade catching in its teeth. Trying to wrestle it from the creature's teeth, he pulls it aside.  
It makes a wide swing at the German, but Raphael swings at its hand, cutting deep. It howls, a curtain of blood black in the snow. He jumps, deftly stepping on the creature's hand as it swings at him, and he thrusts, catching it in through the tongue. It growls, grabs the French man, and flings him aside-- "Gwagh!" He rolls through snow and hits a tree stump arm-first with a WHUMP! Siegfried blocks a claw in his direction, and manages to catch its mouth open as it snaps at him by jamming the claymore in its teeth. He hauls the rapier from its tongue and stabs it through a clawed hand aimed at him. The creature rolls away growling.)

(Sieg) Are you alright?

Raphael struggles to lift himself up.

(Raph) N-Ngh... I don't think I am.  
(Sieg) Can you stand?  
(Raph) Yes, I think so.

Siegfried tosses Raphael's rapier at him and the French man catches it. The werewolf circles Siegfried, growling. It pounces and he manages to toss it off with the momentum, snow exploding into the air briefly. Siegfried backs up and Raphael stands up behind him. He pats himself off, holding his rapier forward.

(Raph) Challenging, but I'm already tired of this!

Siegfried holds up his sword.

(Sieg) Forgiveness, creature!

The werewolf charges at them, and Siegfried brings the claymore down, a huge curtain of snow erupting in the wolf's face-- it snarls, and Raphael hops, a foot lightly stepping on Siegfried's shoulder as he parts the snow sword-first.

(Raph) _Percer!_

He thrusts his arm with all his might-- and the sword bursts through the werewolf's head, killing it. It gurgles, hitting the snow with a fwump as Raphael's feet land nearby. He sheathes his sword.

(Raph) Ah!

He grasps his right arm.

(Sieg) --Here.

Siegfried starts gripping Raphael's arm, checking it.

(Raph) Oh! Ooh!  
(Sieg) Can you move your arm?

Raphael makes motions.

(Raph) Mmh. It's not broken. Fractured, perhaps.  
(Sieg) Be careful.  
(Raph) Sure you wouldn't like to be adopted? Although I suppose I would... have to...

Raphael stumbles, falling into Siegfried's arm, snoring loudly.

(Sieg) _Nun mach mal halblang!_

Siegfried lets him slid onto the snow-covered ground, takes a ball of snow, and whips it at his face.  
Later on, they're following a path and they see signs of a struggle and a lot of blood.

(Sieg) ...  
(Raph) ...Smells fresh. 

Siegfried looks ahead and sees a crumpled body in the snow. He and Raphael approach it. Flipping it over, they recognize the blood-stained, agonized face of inspector who they met earlier today. Tonight, actually.

(Sieg) ...Sigh.  
(Raph) I don't suppose he met this terrible fate because he kissed your hand.  
(Sieg) I pray not.  
(Raph) One moment...

He looks at a bite-mark on the man's neck.

(Raph) ...This mark... Could it be...?

Raphael takes a glove off to show Siegfried a small bite-mark on his palm. Siegfried looks at him, not quite following.  
They hear mumbled words somewhere close and Raphael stands up, sniffing. He starts walking, and Siegfried follows him. Raphael stumbles through the forest until he comes to a small grove where Amy is sitting at a small table, drinking "tea" with the two now vampirised officials.

(Raph) Amy!  
Oh Amy, I've long been searching for you!

She gets up and they hug. Siegfried arrives, and looks at the two officials staring off and swaying drunkenly, the sheen of blackish blood smeared over their mouths, their grey fingers reddish, blood on their arms and chests. Their eyes glisten a dark red. Siegfried stares at them extremely warily, aware of the creatures they have become.  
Raphael kisses Amy's face over and over.

(Raph) I was so worried, my dearest.  
(Amy) I am sorry, father.  
(Raph) Well, none of that matters now. I am so glad to have found you safe. So glad!

He hugs her, picking her up and spinning some. Raphael laughs. As Siegfried absent-mindedly watches them hugging, nuzzling thankfully, a tear threatens to roll halfway down the German's cheek. He wipes it from his face, trying to discern what it is. He sighs.  
Raphael approaches, a hand on Siegfried's shoulder.

(Raph) ...You have my deepest gratitude... Siegfried.

Siegfried is taken aback at the sound of his own name instead of "my pet".  
A velvet pouch is pressed into his hand.

(Raph) Here.

Raphael steps back as Siegfried opens the bag to see the Holy Stone inside.  
Raphael looks at the two vampires at the tea-party table.

(Raph) And you gentlemen! For accompanying my daughter and keeping her safe I should knight you! Can I do that?

Cut to Siegfried slamming a stake through the chest of one of them with a mallet. He flinches as blood spurts over his white shirt and onto his face.  
Sighing again, he wipes it from his face with a cloth. He enters the entrance hall where Raphael stands, drinking "wine."

(Sieg) 'Tis done.  
(Raph) Very well. Oh!

Raphael holds a hand out.

(Raph) My name is Raphael. Feel free to call me that my p-- oh, Siegfried.  
Raphael Sorel.

Siegfried takes his hand.

(Sieg) Siegfried Schtauffen.  
(Raph) Oh?  
So... it was you that dame was looking for.  
(Sieg) Wh-What dame?

Raphael grins.

(Raph) ...  
Oh, no-one.  
Well. I suppose...  
(Sieg) Ah, yes. Alright then.

Siegfried holds his arms out and castle guards drag him away quietly. They place him in the tower room, and he sits on his bed, looking outside. The moon is white in the early morning's pale blue sky.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose I should clarify that Siegfried staked those two inspectors not because they were malefested, but because they were animated corpses. Was Raphael dead when he became malefested? Amy definitely wasn't, but they ended up with the same effect. Apparently people can "go mad" when they're malefested, but what prompts the difference? I don't expect consistency because whatever they did with Raphael is an actual crime and Namco's penance so far has been frankly insufficient.


	4. Chapter 4

In a peculiar twilight, with the sun setting, the moon in the sky and the stars bright, the clouds lit in bright colors, Siegfried stands in some shade near a dying tree as Kilik approaches him.  
Taking off his pendant, Siegfried watches as Kilik holds it in his palm before outstretching his hand.  
Kilik patiently waits as Siegfried awkwardly reads his body language. He holds out his right hand and Kilik firmly presses the pendant into it, holding the back of Siegfried's hand with his other-- when he retreats Siegfried looks at his hand, holding the Holy Stone. As it glistens he realizes that this is something he's heard of across the land-- a divine stone that has the ability to cleanse malefestation.  
He looks up at Kilik with a questioning expression. That was you? This was yours? You wish me to have this? Kilik returns his expression with a look of confidence; he nods and turns, leaving.   
Siegfried lets the pendant dangle from his hand and it glimmers in the light-- holding it with both hands he draws the white cord over his head.

In the present Siegfried pulls his mass of blonde hair from underneath, letting it fall onto his back. The Holy Stone then rests against his chest as he stands by a window with the moon shining outside.  
He holds up the Holy Stone and watches it glimmer.

The next scene creeps into frame--  
A wagon creaks to a stop and someone jumps off. In the dark of night in a forest of spruce trees two people hobble through, with bodies on their backs.  
They travel deeper-- Raphael, with one official-turned-vampire on his back, makes small talk with Siegfried, who carries both the other vampire-official as well as the tertiary investigator on his back.

(Raph) ...You don't suppose these fellows have families, do you?  
(Sieg) It's likely...  
(Raph) Hmm.  
(Sieg) Thinking of someone else's young daughter for once?  
(Raph) You've no way of proving these gentlemen's families, my p-- ah, Siegfried!  
Besides, it would be best, I think, if you could not... cut to the heart of me. Sigh.  
Ah- here seems like a fine place.

Raphael lets the double-dead corpse slide off his back to the forest floor with a thud. He gives a sigh of relief, feeling behind his back as Siegfried quietly, almost gently, lays his charge down onto the grass.

(Raph) I'd planned to do this while you were all alive, sirs, but alas! It seems God wanted your souls or something like that.  
Shall we implicate them?  
(Sieg) I suppose.  
(Raph) _Enquêteurs Roumains_ certainly take their jobs seriously, so this had better be convincing.  
(Sieg) How did they get here-- how did these two end up with stakes in their chests, and how did the third man come to find them here?   
Let us start from the beginning.  
(Raph) Hmm... Perhaps...  
This fellow...

Raphael points to the tertiary investigator.

(Raph) ...He didn't like to admit it, but he had a most singular fear of darkness and the eyes of certain lizards. Upon being pressed, he would thrust a blade upon either with considerable abandon.

Accompanying imagery, and almost the very sound of Siegfried's shoulders dropping in incredulity.

(Raph) Unfortunately, the love of his life turned out to be a lizard in disguise, which certainly pressed him, so he stuck her in the eye.  
He then became an investigator to investigate the cause of her reptility, and also to investigate himself; why... why did he feel so threatened by them? Perhaps this called for the redress of a childhood memory-- one of a dark morning when three lizards broke into his family home to harass his parents into returning a tremendous debt.  
His mother wheezes in terror: "May the birds find you in your sleep, fiends!!"

Siegfried interrupts.

(Sieg) What does any of this have to do with the situation at hand?!  
(Raph) Quiet, my dear, I'm starting from the beginning. Or what he would consider the beginning of... all this.  
(Sieg) You're wasting time. Aside from that I'm absolutely sure none of this actually happened!  
(Raph) I beg to differ; time enjoyed is never time wasted.  
(Sieg) Raphael...  
(Raph) Your second point, though-- certainly, all we know without doubt is that he's charmed by lovely albeit masculine german maidens.

Siegfried winds up to punch Raphael in the face.

(Raph) AAaah, alright, I'll admit that was fairly rude. Do forgive me.  
(Sieg) Hmph!  
Before the dawn comes and I have to carry you home, feel free to use that brain you're so proud of!  
(Raph) Hrmrm.

Siegfried looks at them, a hand to his chin.

(Sieg) ...He was certainly killed by these two.

Shots of his wounds.

(Raph) It seems he was bitten by Amy, but if she wished to take his life, it would be by more civil means.  
... ...He could have been making his way towards our castle before running into this pair. He meant to escape, and ran foolishly into these woods before getting lost... and dying.

Siegfried gently places his body in a fairly natural position, the bite on his neck facing upwards.

(Raph) Now... the hands of the Turned-Turk.  
(Sieg) There's no way they would have rested in the open here.  
How could someone have staked them in such a situation?

Raphael thinks for a moment. He glances at Siegfried.

(Raph) ...Do you suppose one could stake a man's heart where he stood?  
(Sieg) T'would have to be a sharp stave, and a strong arm, with it.   
(Raph) What if they were running at you? Unnaturally fast?  
(Sieg) ... ...A lucky blow, it would have to be, for most.  
(Raph) But you-- you in particular. Could you do it?

Siegfried looks at Raphael, thinking. He soon closes his eyes and quietly nods. Raphael eyes him almost admirably.

(Raph) Hmm~  
A curious warrior, brought here by strange circumstance... seeking to ease the misery of the vast countryside...

Siegfried watches him warily, to make sure his story doesn't stray too far into reality.

(Raph) ...He finds these two feeding upon an unfortunate investigator...  
Has a battle--

At some feet away, he makes as if he's stabbing one of them--

(Raph) Paf!

And the other--

(Raph) Plouf!

before letting them hit the ground.

(Raph) You wipe the sweat and flaxen hair from your face and continue your journey. How's that? Legitimate?  
(Sieg) Mm.

Snow starts to fall between the trees.

(Sieg) Snow. We'd best leave before we start making tracks.  
(Raph) Indeed.

They walk back, and as they're crossing a small bridge they see the wagon they travelled in being inspected by a group of men. They seem to start to walk towards them.

(Sieg) ...  
(Raph) Oh my. A nosey sort.  
Here.

They hop over the side of the bridge to hide under it. As they wait, the group walks over it. Bom-pom-tump-tump. Raphael turns to Siegfried, quietly--

(Raph) Perhaps when we get back we should celebrate.  
Some cheese and wine? You strike me as a mead sort of fellow, though.  
(Sieg) Shh.

They both notice an odd silence above them and listen.

(Man) Who goes there?  
(Man) He seems... strange, no?  
(Man) Look! Blood! He's covered in blood!  
(Sieg) ...Do you know what they're saying?  
(Raph) Hmm. I'm afraid not.  
(Man) Here he comes!

There's a sound of drawing swords, which startles Siegfried and Raphael. And then the sound of fighting.

(Raph) What in the world-?

He leans forward to look up. He then sits back under the bridge.

(Raph) You know, I suspected as much. We forgot to stake the inspector.

Siegfried sighs and rests his face in hand.

(Sieg) ...I apologize.  
(Raph) Think not of it. Really, what's my excuse? Too busy staring at long, golden hair, thinking on Rapunzel.  
(Sieg) ...Strange man... Does that make you Dame Gothel?

Raphael whips his head to glare at Siegfried, ignoring the chaos and cries overhead.

(Raph) W-Why would you assume I am the witch that imprisons you?  
(Sieg) Because you locked me in a tower when we first game here.  
(Raph) _Eek!_ But did I not take you in after you left your own awful tower?  
(Sieg) Only to trap me in another, then!  
(Raph) Ugeee!  
(Sieg) Nevermind. Worry not of the past.

Raphael looks a touch surprised. 

(Raph) Past?

A hand slaps over his mouth, bringing a tear to his eye. Siegfried glares up as they listen to the group of gentlemen run off.

(Man) There he goes!  
(Man) After the beast!

One straggles behind a moment, clutching an injury with a frustrated sigh. He runs after them, and Siegfried raises to watch him disappear. Raphael stands too, feeling his face.

(Raph) Your hands are so terribly rough.  
(Sieg) ... We'd best not stay in these woods. Come.

They walk towards the wagon and Siegfried suddenly turns back to Raphael, taking his jaw in hand. Raphael gives a surprised expression as Siegfried looks over his face. He then lets go and turns, giving Raphael a well-meaning smirk before walking on. Raphael isn't sure how to react.  
In the wagon, Raphael finds himself gazing at Siegfried as he guides the horses. He gives a tired expression as he quietly raises a hand to his suddenly weary heart.

(Sieg) ...It's barely night, Raphael. Tired already?  
(Raph) Hm? Oh? Oh... Merely... lost in thought, that's all.  
Actually... In all the time you've spent here, how have I never seen you sleep? Living by the night is unusual for a human.  
(Sieg) I shall say my sleep habits are unusual, then. My body... cares not for long rest. Especially so in the dusk.   
Even... Even though it is all mine, my body still has not the trust of my heart, but that will come in time, I suppose. All does.  
(Raph) ...I can see something different in you even since you first came here, you know. It seems as if the moment I granted you wear your armor again, you somehow became braver. And not merely because you were harder to stab.  
(Sieg) Is that so?  
(Raph) Why, yes.  
Actually, the second night you awoke in our castle, Amy told me you were pale and trembling, wrest from a nightmare. She said she saw no future in having you here and bid I give up on you.

Siegfried's a little unimpressed.

(Raph) Even now I wonder if she was just jealous. Well, you know how teenagers can be.  
On perhaps a more urgent note-- I was thinking of baking sweets. Perhaps Stollen, or gallete. Which do you prefer?  
(Sieg) Y-You can make Stollen?   
(Raph) I can. Oh, this is an appropriate time of year, no?  
(Sieg) Yes... It is.

Later on a sword is carefully whet with a stone, somewhere in the castle. In a kitchen area, Raphael stands, sleeves rolled back, looking at small boxes and pulls out a small sack (sugar), and a couple of fruit (likely citron-- oranges weren't widespread in europe at the time [apparently]) to place on a cutting board.  
He pulls out a sharp knife, and begins cutting them. Momentarily he turns to look at a cauldron over fire, checking the still water. He slices the fruit methodically, and finds himself staring off. Gently, his brows furrow and he leans forward to lean against the counter. He brings a hand to his chin in thought.  
A stick with sparse pine needles whips against the back of his legs, inciting a grunt. He doesn't need to turn his head to know it's Amy. She stands back, expressionless.

(Amy) Did I frighten you?  
(Raph) My child, I could hear your footsteps outside the door.

She turns away, suddenly uninterested.

(Amy) Hm.

She looks into the cauldron of boiling water as Raphael approaches with a long wooden spoon and a bowl of sugar.

(Amy) I thirst, father.

Raphael nods, pouring the sugar into the water.

(Raph) As do I. Worry not, when I'm done we shall visit town.

He stirs the water, in a cloud of steam.

(Raph) Amy...  
...Do you remember how we used to live? Before we woke to darkness?

She stares off, absent.

(Amy) ...I do not.  
(Raph) You as well, then...

He kneels back, and both of them stare into the steam and fire.

(Amy) Was there... something worth remembering, I wonder?

Something tugs at the corner of Raphael's mouth. He turns and pulls Amy into a hug. She hugs him back before whipping him with the pine branch, "Ah!"

In some low-lit room, lanterns and the glow of the moon, Siegfried lifts his sword, inspecting the edge of the blade. He raises his head to reveal tears in his otherwise very emotionless eyes. Staring off into the dark he thinks, sniffing.   
Siegfried pulls the Holy Stone from his shirt and grasps it in hand.  
He turns to his sword again and looks at the moon reflecting in the steel. Giving a determined expression, he sheathes the sword with a snap.  
When Siegfried walks by the kitchen area, Raphael shouts at him;

(Raph) There you are my-- Siegfried! Do help me set the table, will you?  
(Sieg) The maids?

Raphael is suddenly struck with the realization that he hasn't seen them yet today. He looks around, thinking and frowning.

(Raph) That's odd.

He shrugs and goes back to filling the plates as Siegfried watches, observing his right arm in use.

(Sieg) ...You bear your pain well.  
(Raph) Is it so plain to see?  
(Sieg) Why, not at all.

Raphael turns his head to look at Siegfried.

(Raph) And your expression? What's that for?

Siegfried says nothing, pensive.

(Raph) Please, you needn't bear without complaint.  
(Sieg) Hm. Why do you ask?  
(Raph) It's a four-letter word!

After all that's happened, Siegfried gives him a lightly confused expression.   
Raphael seems to be somewhat amused-- or up for a challenge. He turns, leaning against the wooden counter and crosses his arms.

(Raph) Tell me... is it really that hard to fathom? Are you really that opposed to the idea-- that a man could truly love another?

Siegfried shakes his head.

(Sieg) That's not...   
...It's not that.  
I will admit I don't wholly understand. I merely don't wish to be treated with the same contempt that men seem to have for the women they supposedly care for.  
That and... no man has ever said to me the things you've said.  
(Raph) ...Not to your face.

Siegfried, unaffected, gives a clouded look;

(Sieg) ...I have been betrayed, hunted... Truly, the last person I'd think to have any fondness for me would be another victim of the Cursed Sword. No?  
(Raph) You think I ought to hate you? I suppose it would be simple, then. Wouldn't it.  
(Sieg) It would... pain me if you did.  
(Raph) Still, it was your intention to do something about us? To change us, or some such?  
Thought you not why I was here? Why I insisted upon this castle in this land? You balked at me for being selfish.   
(Sieg) Amy is not safe here.

Raphael looks at him, quietly, subtly angry.

(Sieg) Raphael... I know you've come here with noble intentions, nothing stolen, nothing undeserved, but you found not any paradise for the two of you-- since I arrived I've been doing nothing but diverting the rope from your necks.

Raphael slowly approaches him, eventually coming to rest his hand on the wall aside Siegfried's shoulder.

(Raph) Do you believe you can fix anything so long as you try?  
(Sieg) That's all that's kept me afraid of death.  
(Raph) For yourself, then?  
(Sieg) 'Tis my fate to live. And live without regret.  
(Raph) And it is mine to be subject to your will?  
(Sieg) So long as my curse is upon you, it is. Body and soul.  
(Raph) And if I wanted your curse?

Slightly softer;

(Sieg) ...Is that all you want?

Raphael frowns;

(Raph) Don't be so base.  
(Sieg) Would it not have been simple, for me to kill you in your sleep?  
I want not your blood on my hands. I would do much, to undo the things wrought by my foolishly striking you down that day.  
Tell me. What must I do?  
(Raph) My dear, this isn't the first I've known of your intentions.

Siegfried looks surprised, albeit tense.

(Raph) Did you think I did not notice, when that dame called for you? I knew there must have been some reason you stayed by my side, without ever actually trying to escape. 

Siegfried sweats, a little intimidated. Raphael reaches down and picks up one of his hands, attempting to hold it comfortingly.

(Raph) But please, worry not. There's nothing I want from you.  
Why, just to be able to hold your hand like this, and not have you shirk away...

Siegfried awkwardly puts his other hand on Raphael's shoulder, shifting slightly. Raphael smiles, amused, and rests one of his hands on Siegfried's.

(Raph) Please, don't force yourself. I told you I wanted nothing.  
(Sieg) Let me do _something_ , at least.

Raphael balks;

(Raph) Like what?  
(Sieg) I...

Siegfried nervously moves back and forth a little.

(Sieg) I'm not sure.  
(Raph) Goodness.

Siegfried reaches up and weirdly pats the side of Raphael's hair a bit as he tries very hard not to burst into laughter.  
Raphael then imitates him, patting Siegfried's hair, earning a shiver before his hand is batted away.

(Sieg) Stop that.

Raphael gives a well-meaning shrug at him, and an expression that says "What did you expect?"

(Raph) This isn't so hard, what if you were to do unto me as you yourself would like?  
(Sieg) ...I wouldn't know such a thing. It's been... nearly ten years, since I was a boy and...

He looks up to see Raphael listening intensely, eyes wide.

(Raph) ...A-And?  
(Sieg) Well... it was nothing so tender, regardless...

Raphael makes several expressions of surprised confusion before concern sets in. 

(Raph) ...As a boy?  
Were they... an adult?

Siegfried closes an eye and squints (with the other), prickled by the thought.

(Sieg) No such way of it-- I was just... searching for something, in whoever. Whoever would deign to spend the time.  
(Raph) Girls?  
(Sieg) Well... yes.

Raphael makes a thinking face and goes back to filling the plates, and stops after a moment to give a preparatory deep breath.

(Raph) Siegfried.

Siegfried raises his chin, listening.

(Raph) Perhaps there's no use in apologizing now, but... I know I've put you through some terrible things.

Siegfried seems surprised, and also a little suspect.

(Raph) I don't mean to make excuses-- I know, just how it feels, to be constricted, held in place, when your heart wants nothing else but to be free of somewhere, a home, a prison-- with conviction my collar and duty my chain--

Siegfried is completely still, watching Raphael lean against the wood counter.

(Raph) Those were my means, and I'm not even truly sure of where they come from, whether it be...  
Of my family, or all of this...  
But at least when I have the momentary clarity, I remember; I was shown love in the simplest of ways, and it could not have left a deeper mark. If I cannot learn... what is the purpose of my being taught?

He turns, surprisingly calm, and looks at his outstretched fingers.

(Raph) ...Are my strings still held by my obligation to the noblety? Was it not my desire to cut them, all my life? Then why should I continue to hold their ways so closely?

He looks up to see Siegfried staring, a little shocked, at him. Raphael immediately realizes the warrant of such a reaction.

(Raph) Why, that was suddenly very tense, wasn't it? I beg your pardon.  
(Sieg) Were those... your true feelings?

Raphael almost seems hurt;

(Raph) Of course they were!  
(Sieg) Then by all means, you need not--

Raphael cuts him off with a raised pointer finger.

(Raph) One moment my friend--

He turns to the nether to shout;

(Raph) SHUT UP!

Siegfried gives an almost disappointed sigh before he suddenly feels the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.  
Outside, the sky slowly turns a deep, dark bruise-purple (as opposed to a night grey) as, down in town, some Wallachian officials pester the townsfolk in disbelief. Different from the men in the woods. One is trying to get the attention of people walking by like zombies, turned to something by the land's malefication.

(Man) You! You there! Answer me, by the name of the prince!  
(Man2) They're all the same. A spirit of evil has taken their souls, all of them.   
(Man3) How are we to know where our men went?

Man2 looks to the sky and wildly points a finger up.

(Man2) Look!! The sky!!

They look up, terrified as the sky glows a deep, warm purple and the stars glimmer peculiarly, with long, sharp points, unnaturally bright. The moon turns a bright red before growing black as ink.

(Man3) What is happening?!  
(Man) God save us!

As they continue to stare, man3 speaks again;

(Man3) ...So long as we stay in this land, we will find out why the others never returned.  
Let's have our wits about us-- we must continue!

Inside the castle, Raphael hears something else (the men outside shouting) and makes a confused expression before a countless amount of ghosts spring up from the floor; Romanian, Turkish, Roma men and women, all miserable-looking and pale, their chins lit by a soft blue glow. Raphael jumps, clattering a fork against a plate as he quickly looks around and Siegfried presses his back against the wall, wide-eyed, looking, too.  
The ghosts are so numerous they practically rub shoulders-- they're corporeal, and as one moves, they all do.

(Raph) U-Uhm...

A voice booms from the nether;

(Basarab) Silence!!

Each ghost thrusts a hand into the air as Raphael stares in extreme surprise and Siegfried shoots his glances back and forth to divine some source of danger-- the castle turns dark before it glows low again; every room is almost dramatically different; completely decorated in deeper, darker colors, golds and blues and reds.

(Raph) Excuse me?  
(Basarab) _Silence, I say!!_

Siegfried looks at Raphael with a sweaty frown and whispers;

(Sieg) Could that be the voice of... God?  
(Raph) Why wouldn't he just strike us down, if that were the case?  
(Sieg) Would he be so quick to judge us?  
(Raph) That's his job!  
(Basarab) I can hear you!

Raphael looks up.

(Raph) From the other world? Perhaps he is God.  
(Basarab) _I'm in the dining room!_  
Bring them in!

Nearby spirits slam their hands on the counter next to Raphael before they grab him, struggling, and dramatically pull him and Siegfried, ghost to ghost, to the dining room where Amy's been sitting at the table, waiting for food. Raphael is shoved against the table and he manages to catch himself before he falls onto it-- he glares around and is shoved into the seat at the head. Siegfried is placed nearby in a chair at the table, too.  
Uncaring, Raphael tries to stand up again, stopping when two big, pale hands grab him by the shoulders and push him back down before his chair is moved back into place. With a defeated sigh, he leans on the table with his chin in his hand like he's being greatly inconvenienced. A tall, obviously dead Romanian noble stands behind him as Siegfried looks back and forth to the ghosts, in particular a line of dead guys with pikes sticking out of varying parts of their bodies (mostly the neck/head) standing in poses like their bodies are being squeezed, along the walls. A blue light illuminates them from under their pale chins as their heads graze the ceiling (their pikes, actually. They seem tall, although not actually).

(Raph) ...To whom do I owe this pleasure?

Two big, pasty fists slam down on the table, on either side of Raphael as the ghost-like bends through the chair to yap into his ear as he ignores them;

(Basarab) Quiet!! I've had my fill of hearing you speak, _francez!_ Be quiet! _Taci!_  
I am the ruler, the father! This is my castle, by God in heaven, and no castle of yours!

The speared men along the walls rattle and cross themselves weakly as the table residents watch. The Basarab does the same, then, head bowed, and mumbles to himself.

(Raph) Some sort of Prince, then? You speak french?  
(Basarab) _I do now!_  
(Raph) You should know my name isn't Francis, then.

The dead man grabs the back of Raphael's chair, shaking it.

(Basarab) _You're not clever!!_ Whatever comes from your mouth is garbage!

The Basarab goes into a mourning stance.

(Basarab) Oh, my unfortunate, yet distinguished family...! Their glory, reduced to petty plots of cheap novels! Ten thousand curses!!  
For their abode to have been taken by some _vampir_ of the devil, why I've never been so deeply regretful of never drinking that vial of pure lead!  
(Raph) Please tell me there's a way to exorcise you from my hair.

The ghost slams his fist down on the table again, as Amy watches.

(Basarab) Get out of my castle!!  
(Raph) I apologize, but the problem with being dead means you don't get to decide who has what!  
(Basarab) Don't speak as if your opinion is truth!  
(Raph) _That's only my opinion?_  
(Basarab) Become a restless spirit and see how it feels to have an ancestral home stolen from under you!  
(Raph) See, being dead means you don't get to have feelings, either! Feelings on the matter, feelings at all!  
(Basarab) I obviously have feelings, and I obviously feel anger!!  
(Raph) A statement as false as a golden egg. You are the echo of a man, with the echo of frustration.

As they talk, Siegfried gives a bored expression, unsure of how things got this way, before another alarming feeling makes its way up his back.  
Raphael notices Siegfried's reaction.

(Raph) Something amiss?

Siegfried shows some subtle trepidation, sweating and staring off, in the midst of recognizing something.  
In the basement a puddle of dark blood seeps up between the cracks in the cobblestone floor, gathering together to become hands with shattered fingers, growing and shrinking until it turns into a creature, human-sized, heaving itself into existence onto the floor and leaving bloody prints. A spike of bone cleaves the mass of bloody goop until it raises its "head" agonizingly, the horn standing from it. The creature shudders and flinches, sending an explosion of splattered blood up the walls before it continues to grow, pulling itself into a "crawling" position-- it lunges up a pack of stairs, struggling, and opens up wide to consume the nearest ghost before it can react.  
Again and again, then, it quickly eats ghosts whole, absorbing them and becoming more people-shaped. The ghosts try to move away from it with a detached fear as it eats them-- when it's filled enough, the creature's "face" splits open, revealing a wide, bloodshot eye. Siegfried, upstairs, glares around, trying to pin the feeling as Raphael watches.  
The creature moves through the rooms leading to the dining room blindingly fast, pushing ghosts aside as it dashes between them. Siegfried tries to stand up and is pushed down, back into his seat as he struggles with hands on him;

(Sieg) Grggh! Let go!!

He elbows and tries to shove ghosts off him, "Verdammte-- idiote-- grnggh!!" and Raphael looks just in time to see Amy wave to him before she jumps out the nearest window.

(Raph) A-Amy?!!

The creature slides into the kitchen, looking a bit more like Nightmare, and runs through the path provided by the ghosts into the dining room. Siegfried manages to duck in time to avoid the monster as it leaps into the room, smashing onto the table before bursting into a multitude of grotesque mouths to swallow everyone present-- ghosts, the Basarab (with a yelp), the piked individuals-- Siegfried looks pissed as his eyes squeeze shut-- and in spite of his shielding himself, a burst of ribbony darkness covers Raphael's flinching face.  
In the darkness, then, a hand grasps Raphael's. He swings to his side to see Siegfried pulling him closer as he warns him;

(Sieg) No matter what he says-- have faith in your heart, Raphael! You are a good man!!  
(Raph) H-Hah??

Siegfried is swallowed in the darkness and, although not pulled apart, they're separated.  
A voice speaks to Raphael;

(voice) ...Yes. What you've sheltered... it won't be enough, but... 

Raphael turns his face, writhing somewhat as someone seems to step on his chest. He breathes hard and opens his eyes a little, looking up as whoever's above him raises a big sword-- he immediately raises his hands in an ineffectual attempt to keep it at bay-- the figure stops, looking down at him in shadow.

(?) ...Hm? You're still alive, old man?

Raphael glares over his fingers in confusion before the figure puts his sword to the side and reaches down, grabbing Raphael's protective hand. He grunts, surprised, as they pull him up from bright, green grass next to a path amongst nature, under a deep blue sky.  
He stands as he looks up to the person's face-- shock, then, to see a young man with short, reddish hair in a suit of armor. Raphael stares.

(?) I was gonna do you a favor, y'know, and put you out of your misery. 

The young man gives a very disingenuous smirk for one second. Raphael takes a moment to process. The youth seems bothered.

(?) ...What.  
(Raph) "What"?  
(?) You're staring at me. It's kinda gross, y'know.  
(Raph) Oh-- no, I just... thought you looked a little... familiar.  
(?) Oh yeah?

He turns to walk away.

(?) You from the Empire?  
(Raph) Ah... no, France.  
(?) Huh... Maybe you mistook me for my father. He used to work around _Elsass_.  
(Raph) Your father?

Raphael starts following him.

(?) Yeah. His name was Frederick.

Raphael actually applies his memory.

(Raph) Frederick...?  
(?) Frederick Schtauffen.

Raphael's jaw clenches as he reacts with deep control of his shock.

(Raph) Ah... That would make you--?  
(Sieg) Siegfried. You knew him?  
(Raph) I've only heard, I'm afraid...  
(Sieg) It doesn't matter, he's dead.  
(Raph) I see.

Troubled, Raphael thinks to himself.

(Raph) (thought) I-I imagined him to have been...

What he imagined is set in the background: a meek, feminine teenager with long, white-blond hair, in a very mildly salacious pose with a girl of a similar stature. For some reason this imaginary Siegfried has a facial scar.

(Raph) (thought) I must admit, perhaps this is more of a logical conclusion.

Raphael looks up at babby Siegfried, trying not to stare too obviously.

(Raph) (thought) Angry then, and now--...  
My.  
I knew he strained to show me mercy.

He looks up to speak, again.

(Raph) Do you mind if I follow you for a time? I don't quite know my way.

Siegfried glances back at him with a suspicious look.

(Sieg) ...

He turns towards the road again, expression stony.

(Sieg) ...I don't have anything a man would want. And I don't have any money, if that's what you're looking for.

Raphael sputters;

(Raph) That's your first assumption? ...Actually, yes, that's quite predictable.

Siegfried gives Raphael a glare, proverbally "done". He goes back to walking.

(Sieg) ...You ever heard of the Soul Edge?

Raphael looks a bit curious before he thinks to himself;

(Raph) ...Now, what year is it...? "Almost" ten... let's take that as seven, and then... the mid '80's...

He looks to Siegfried, intent on having fun.

(Raph) ...It's in the hands of a pirate by the name of Cervantes de Leon. You'll find him in eastern Spain.

Siegfried turns back, still walking.

(Sieg) Don't fuck with me.  
(Raph) I'm doing no such thing!  
(Sieg) How would you know that, then?  
(Raph) I've merely done my research, that's all.  
(Sieg) You're... definitely a freak.  
(Raph) Fine. I know nothing, then-- why would you ask about that dreadful thing, anyway?

Siegfried frowns, moving forward.

(Sieg) Somebody in this world needs to die.  
I can't do it alone, though. Whoever was strong enough to kill my father-- it'll take something special... something undefeatable.

Raphael starts to put something together in his head. He listens, thinking.

(Sieg) Whoever it was...   
...Whoever it was...

Siegfried's teeth grind as he gives a murderous glare into the distance.

(Sieg) ...I'll make them want to die!

Raphael's heart sinks somewhat. He hesitantly steps forward but is cut off by a glare. Siegfried is rather angry.

(Sieg) If you lay a hand on me I'll beat you so hard your mother will feel it!  
(Raph) Certainly your father didn't teach you to be this rude?  
(Sieg) He didn't teach me anything!

Siegfried turns begrudging, a somewhat spiteful look on his face.

(Sieg) He abandoned me and my mother.  
(Raph) ...Are you sure you won't miss him?

Siegfried stops in his tracks, just in time for water to come pouring down his cheeks. He's quite upset.

(Sieg) Stop.  
I... I can't do this...! I can't!  
No more! No more!! I'm begging you, please! Have mercy!!

He drops to his knees with his hands holding his face.  
A shriek peals in the now pitch-dark surroundings as Raphael frowns with concerned distaste. He listens as the cry echoes and watches a man's body gracelessly slide to the black ground and an impossible amount of blood pours from his headless neck-- it runs down, down, and we see it pour into the room where the officers were kept, in the basement of the castle. It bubbles up, gushing into the hallways there, filling a rotten pantry, swallowing up the stairs down. It races up the walls, filling the castle from below and swells in pots, lanterns, glass and wood and stone.  
Raphael opens his eyes to the feeling of long, bone-like fingers twisting his neck to the side-- he then stares at his holder; a mass of shifting flesh with a single big, reddish eye staring at him. He feels some panic.

(Souledge) Here you are.  
(Raph) ... _You!_  
(Souledge) What insignificant looking glass were you gazing into?  
To your knees!

It forces him down, painfully, into hot ash. The creature towers over him as such that a bright light behind it gives it an awful, deep red prism of a halo.

(Souledge) You've served me well, Raphael.  
I have given you everything-- your purpose, your life, the very air you breathe.  
You are mine-- _mine!_ Subject your soul and surrender your body!

Raphael chokes,

(Raph) I'm no-one's servant!! _You'll not have me!!_  
(Souledge) You would rather die? Then what of your daughter? Who will care for her? Who will protect her?

Raphael gasps with difficulty.

(Souledge) You think that _man_ will live for her?  
Do you truly believe him to be capable?  
He cares not for either of you. That he had ever been kind-- it's merely in service to his guilt.  
He intends to humor you, nothing more.

The claws around Raphael's neck sink in somewhat, particularly into the flesh behind his ear and the back of the base of his neck.

(Raph) Nghaaah!!  
(Souledge) If you were to die, she would despair and waste away! With no-one to guide her or keep her from harm, she will wilt! She will die!  
(Raph) Silence! I'll hear no more!!

The claws pull him closer to the eye.

(Souledge) We can protect her together, if you wish it in your heart! If you wish her to be safe!  
I know what is in your soul. I will make it stronger! I will make certain your fears never come to pass!  
(Raph) Speak not of her!!  
(Souledge) You cannot rely on others-- because you will never truly know how their heart is bent!   
Whether they be your family or your comrades... a human heart is darkness, strings held by secret, unseeable, unknowable.  
But I can see. I will know! You must trust in me-- and you'll not be hurt again!

The light fades from Raphael's eyes as he goes somewhat limp.

(Raph) ...Hurt...  
...I...

The monster's giant eye rolls back, suddenly, showing a slit opening with a blood-shot lizard-ish eye inside it. Raphael almost sobers at the sight of it, although in a distant, dissociative shock.  
A thin membrane of flesh in its back allows it to look through and see someone behind--  
Siegfried, with the pendant around his neck glowing a greenish blue, jumps and swings his sword down before it can react, and he cleaves the monster open. The Souledge heaves, trembling as its blood sprays out, over Siegfried as he pushes the blade in, in, in, expression blank and wild with rage.  
Inside the castle the blood from the basement seeps up, coloring the windows black as it starts raining red; pouring down on plants, on the white snow, on the stones, on the soulless townsfolk-- as the prince's men step up the stairs leading to the castle one of them stops to wipe a drop from his face and looks up while the others notice, too.

(Man3) Blood...!  
(Man2) Keep walking, go!

Then, at the foot of the castle, the front doors break open, releasing a wave of dark blood to rush out, and as it bates two people trudge out, red rushing around their knees: half-conscious and mindless (and covered in blood), Siegfried and Raphael stumble, light gone from their eyes. When the blood's mostly drained from the castle Siegfried drops the sword in his hand with a loud CLANG (or SPLASH) and drops to his knees to cough up blood as Raphael keeps walking and fumbles to the edge, looking down over the town. He jumps, and quickly meets the officers. They shoot back, surprised, and Raphael walks past them as they watch.  
One of them moves;

(Man2) Ah-- you! Stop!  
In the name of the prince! Stop where you are!

One of them follows him, and another turns to the other half;

(Man3) I will follow, go to the castle!

And follows the other guy who's following Raphael. They nod and turn back towards the bleeding building.  
In the town, one of the officers following Raphael catches up with him and reaches, grabbing his shoulders. Raphael immediately shrugs the hands off and throws the officer to the ground as the other runs to his side, unsheathing a sword. The guy on the ground gets up, taking out a sword, too, as he keeps his eyes on Raphael, standing in the cold and snow, dripping and drenched in blood with dull, red eyes.  
In the other realm of consciousness, Siegfried nearly cleaves Souledge's body in half-- it drops Raphael's nigh lifeless body to the burning ground to grasp at the blade making its way through it.

(Souledge) !!  
(Sieg) You'll take not-- have nothing-- _nothing_ in my presence! Whisper, scheme, fury and fear! I'll cut the breath from your lungs!!  
(Souledge) You play the saint, you hateful worm!! You were the one to place his soul in my hands! You'll not be rid of me!!  
(Sieg) Yearn as you can, but he is mine! Mine to do with as I please-- and I take his soul, I set him free!

With a decisive shove Siegfried cuts the beast in half and lets it slop to the ground in a shower of blood and show of bones.  
Siegfried tenderizes it a bit more, chopping the monster with splatters before it stares up at him with its giant eye.

(Souledge) Curse hope. Live in restless regret!

And he plunges the blade into Souledge's staring pupil. Immediately, then, he steps on the monster's dissembling corpse, walking to where Raphael lay and lowers next to him, sheathing his sword.  
He scoops up Raphael and shakes him--

(Sieg) Wake up!

Raphael groans a little, eyes closed. Siegfried grumbles and grabs his face by the chin, squeezing his cheeks. Raphael grunts, brows furrowed, and fidgets enough to bite Siegfried's hand.   
Siegfried immediately comes to with a gasp in the real world to look up-- alone, covered in blood, the castle is behind him and the doors are open.   
He whips around, looking.

(Sieg) ...Wh--?  
...Raphael!

Inside the castle foyer the two officers look around, eyeing the blood over the walls.

(Man) How could this be...?  
(Man4) Let's do this quickly, I'm getting weak with the smell.

Siegfried runs into the castle, up the nearby staircase as Man and Man4 watch.

(Man4) Is that--  
(Man) Sir! Halt!

They chase after him, up the spiral staircase, and they come to Siegfried's room as he's quickly putting his armor on. He looks up, alarmed, with only his greaves applied, and takes a bag of the rest of his armor and hops onto the window sill and jumps, against any judgment-- the officers run to the window to see him land in a snowy briar patch, on the bag of his armor. He rolls off and picks himself up, glancing up to see them stare and disappear. Siegfried takes off, tossing the bag over his shoulder.  
As he trudges through the snow he stumbles into a deeper patch, dropping the sack, and has to catch himself (and desperately pull the bag from the pit of snow) before he notices Amy standing on a rather large, flat stone nearby.

(Amy) I was hoping you'd fall in and get stuck.  
(Sieg) Amy!

She then picks up a rock and throws it at him.

(Amy) Freeze to death, Mr. Schtauffen.

Siegfried bats a rock aside.

(Sieg) Stop that and help me find your father!  
(Amy) Why. So you can go back to skulking around the castle, saying whatever you please? You may have taken papa's fancy but you mean nothing to me.  
He knows that if he dies, I will kill you.  
(Sieg) Amy, I don't have the intention to stay with you and your father. I wish to help him-- and when I'm done I will leave.  
(Amy) ...

She's not convinced. Siegfried is losing his patience.

(Sieg) As soon as possible, I must return north, and go to the kingdom of Wolfkrone. I'm needed there!

Amy turns, and then silently jumps from the rock to walk away, leaving Siegfried to huff alone. He drags himself with some effort out of the snow pit and wipes his arms on his pants as he dons the rest of his armor, as feverishly fast as he can. He continues through the woods until he comes to a seldom-traveled road and hears shouts and screams, egging him to hurry into town.  
The inspector Siegfried forgot to stake, now missing most of an arm, and a man from the "nosey sort" group are stumbling through the townside, covered in gore, with blood streaming from their mouths. Backup from the Wallachian prince are unconscious (and in bloody puddles) here and there.  
Man2 steps back, sword in front of him, as he watches the Inspector turn to him, having beaten a Man(5) unconscious. The Nosey Man backhands Man3 in the background before jumping on him, biting down on his shoulder. Man3 screams for help. Man2 stares, terrified at the Inspector before a blade lands halfway through the zombie-vampire's head.   
Siegfried pulls his claymore from the Inspector's skull, letting him hit the ground and Man2 watches as the german stands over the ghoul's body, stabbing him in the chest repeatedly with a side-arm knife.   
Siegfried looks up at Man2 for a second before dashing off to cut the head off the Nosey Man as he gores Man3's shoulder. The body falls on Man3 as he continues to scream.  
Siegfried then pulls the Nosey Man's body off of him and proceeds to stab the ghoul in the chest. He then walks over and crushes the Nosey Man's head under his foot with some brutal stomps while the other men watch. They stare at him and he opens his mouth for a moment to speak, but he knows they won't understand his words.

(Man2) Who...  
Who are you?

Siegfried frowns, frustrated.

(Man2) Can you not speak? 

Siegfried sighs, and thinks for a second before speaking (in German).

(Siegfried) ...I'm looking for someone.

Man2 looks surprised, and Man3 looks to Man2, confused.

(Man2) German?

Siegfried then looks surprised.

(Man2) What is a German man doing here in Walachia?  
(Man3) ...A German?

Siegfried clams up, wary. They approach him. Man2 speaks in German.

(Man2) Have you come from the Empire? Were you sent by Rudolf?  
(Siegfried) ...  
(Man3) Ask him-- ask him--  
(Man2) What does he plan? Does he have the means to--  
(Man3) Is he going to help us? Is he going to help us fight the Ottomans?  
(Man2) Is the Emperor going to aid in the unification of the land? Will he help fight the Ottomans?  
(Man3) Has he sent you?  
(Siegfried) I... I don't know what he has planned. I'm no hand of the Emperor.  
(Man2) Then why have you come?

Siegfried frowns.

(Sieg) I've come to purge the evil from this land. I am a hunter of the unholy.  
(Man3) What does he say?   
(Man2) He says he has come here to hunt. To cleanse the land.  
(Sieg) I am looking for a man. A... creature. Red eyes, blonde hair. Tall.  
(Man2) He's been taken to the old church here. We must bring him before the Prince.

Siegfried panics somewhat.

(Sieg) That won't do. He is my quarry.  
(Man2) But we must-- Do you intend to kill him?

Siegfried swallows a lump in his throat.

(Sieg) ... ... Yes.  
Tell me, where is the church?  
(Man2) It's just south of here. But-- please--  
(Sieg) Tend to your men.

Siegfried takes off, sheathing his claymore and looks to the sky before running south.

In the derelict church, a beam of dull light spreads over Raphael's mostly unconscious body.  
Siegfried sees him and closes the door before rushing to his side. He turns up Raphael's face.

(Sieg) ...

He brushes Raphael's tousled hair aside as the man opens his eyes only very slightly. Upon realizing it's Siegfried's concerned face, he grabs Siegfried's arm with his free (fractured, right) hand and hugs him, burying his face in the german's abdomen (/chest?).

(Sieg) R-Raphael...!  
(Raph) Dear sir... Dear sir... I'd thought myself dead. And you, in turn.  
(Sieg) Don't be silly.

Raphael looks up to Siegfried, in panic.

(Raph) What of Amy?!  
(Sieg) Worry not, she is safe. 

Raphael relaxes, full-body, and slides to the floor with Siegfried holding his head.

(Sieg) Are you wounded?  
(Raph) M-My arm... it aches terribly.  
(Sieg) I should have known it hadn't healed...

Siegfried starts looking Raphael over, cutting rope off him. He slices open Raphael's clothes here and there to inspect wounds.

(Raph) Mercy, the cold... Ah! Siegfried!

He holds his hand still.

(Raph) If you were to tend to my wounds you may... become something unnatural.

Siegfried looks at him.

(Sieg) I assure you, by the blessing of the holy blade. I will not change.

Raphael slowly accepts his answer, and goes back to being miserable, looking around the church. The place is in tatters, with holes in the roof, letting the bright moonlight inside. It's snowing lightly.

(Raph) ...Are you certain... my daughter is safe.  
(Sieg) She was most of the way to the castle when I found her. She was not harmed.  
(Raph) Could they find her?  
(Sieg) The lot of them are in little shape to climb that hill, my friend.  
And she's clever. She'll be alright.

Raphael's hand weakly flutters to Siegfried's, looking for comfort.  
Siegfried gives him a concerned look before he rips some sort of fabric (a cape?) to wrap Raphael's wounds. He looks up, glaring reticently at the statues in the church.

(Sieg) ...Are you not weak, to be here?

Raphael laughs.

(Raph) Think you truly... that any god in this world is here?  
(Sieg) You shouldn't say such things...  
(Raph) After all that you've seen, you still believe in him?

Siegfried looks at the statues again before continuing his wrapping.

(Sieg) ...I don't know.  
But if hell does exist, I'm sure that's where I'll be resting my head when this is all over.  
(Raph) After all your repenting?  
(Sieg) I've been forgiven of my sins. But could any living being truly absolve them? Sins cannot be shrugged off so easily, I think.  
(Raph) A true child of the Ninety-Five Theses, hm.

Siegfried finishes wrapping a wound and rests his hand on Raphael's leg.

(Sieg) ...What right have I, after all I've done, to be alive?  
(Raph) You have as much a right as any of us, do not forget. No matter what any god thinks.  
...Or Gregory, or Charles, or Catherine, for that matter. They might burn with anger at your struggle, but there's nothing more divine than true selflessness. The tens of thousands at their hands... and they were neither misled nor fooled, you know.

Raphael flinches when Siegfried feels his right arm.

(Sieg) Is it painful?  
(Raph) Mrmm...!

Siegfried reveals Raphael's arm, a nasty purple bruise on it. He takes his cold gauntlet and presses the back of the hand to it. Raphael closes his eyes, weakly panting. As Siegfried moves over him, he looks up, and takes the german's forearm.

(Raph) ...One cannot live in this world without hurting others.   
If you live to undo that pain, who will live to undo yours? Refuse not, close not your heart against kindness, because you believe yourself unworthy, undeserving. The more you refuse, the more your heart dies.  
It is us... against them. You are not old, my friend. You are not old.  
(Sieg) You're delirious.  
(Raph) I...

Raphael gazes at Siegfried's neck. Taking it as a hint, Siegfried moves his hair aside, turning his face.

(Raph) Please, do not. I won't. I would sooner die.

Raphael lies back down, weak.

(Raph) As I do, promise me that you'll hold me, dear Siegfried.  
(Sieg) Death is not upon you, Raphael. Think of Amy.  
(Raph) I always do. Promise, as well, that you'll care for her in my stead?  
(Sieg) Please.

Siegfried moves to pick him up, carrying him out of the old church, leaving the door open. 

(Sieg) ...You're not light, are you.  
(Raph) Now what am I to do about that? If I was short I'm afraid I wouldn't be cute like you are.

Siegfried wrings his fingers somewhat, annoyed.

(Sieg) Don't call me "cute"...

Raphael sighs, closing his eyes and resting his head on Siegfried's collar.

(Raph) ...I can't feel your heartbeat, through your armor...

Siegfried frowns, blushing.

(Sieg) You'll have to settle for listening, for now.  
(Raph) Mm.

After a moment of walking;

(Raph) Siegfried... you're undoubtedly the kindest man I've ever known, in all my years. My years in Rouen... and traveling. Why, even after all that's happened!  
(Sieg) T-Truly? Have I really been that good to you?  
(Raph) Hm.  
You see, _kindness_... Even if you've never experienced it, and you don't know what it feels like, you long for it in secret, in every deep part of you.  
You cannot have it beaten out of you-- you cannot _convince_ it to retreat. Shame is not strong enough to dout it. For its possibility a heart will drink its fill of any poison familiar. And some would take advantage of that-- but not you.  
You and Amy have taught me such important things... I owe it to you both to learn. As you have learned.  
For as cruel as I can be... to have fallen in with a man who would even deign to help my daughter and I--  
If I survive tonight, I'd like to serve you for the rest of my life. How else could I repay you?

Siegfried is surprised. He then replies;

(Sieg) Rather than that, won't you let me have you? Would you put your life in my hands?  
(Raph) What do you mean?

Almost pleading;

(Sieg) Allow me to change you. To make you human once more.

Raphael thinks, quiet. He almost hesitantly continues.

(Raph) Is there... even such a way about that?  
(Sieg) There is. I have faith in what I've heard.  
(Raph) Then, I... I would... like to rest, first...

Raphael closes his eyes and falls silent.  
Siegfried watches him for a moment before he presses his cheek against Raphael's forehead, observing his temperature.

(Sieg) (thought) ...No fever. He's actually very cold.

Siegfried enters the town center and lays Raphael down against a crate or something. He puts his face to his neck, listening and feeling.

(Sieg) (thought) His heartbeat... it seems weak...

He sits back to give a concerned expression. He then tries to wake him.

(Sieg) ...Raphael...  
Raphael.

No answer but some almost imperceptible breathing.  
Siegfried then quietly holds Raphael's face in his hands and tenderly kisses him. He draws back and Raphael remains (mostly) motionless. Siegfried watches Raphael for a second before his face steams hot in embarrassment.

(Sieg) (thought) Why... Why was that my recourse?? Appalling, even for me!

He then notices someone standing metres away, approaching from amidst the bloody houses and bodies of undead. Soldiers, from the prince's army, come out with him, some 30-40 men.  
Siegfried slowly stands up as their leader (Captain) speaks.

(Captain) "Hunting," you said? Oh, that's right... you're a German!

(In German:)

(Captain) Greetings, sir, I'm captain Dumitru. My men had told me that you claimed to have come to this valley to cleanse it of evil.  
Incidentally, that is my job as well.

Siegfried is very wary, watching the soldiers come out into the open. The captain turns to the closest man, Man2.

(Captain) That's him, yes?  
(Man2) Yes.   
(Captain) And who is...?  
(Man2) The one with him is the creature we had defeated, and left in the church for the moment.  
(Captain) The creature, hm...

He turns his attention to Siegfried again.

(Captain) We are under orders to kill every man we come across. Decide then, whether you have truly come here to do the same, and hand that man to us, or you can continue to coddle him, and die.

Siegfried's face heats red.

(Sieg) _Sh-Shut up!!_  
Hear me-- this man's fate is mine, and I am the one to break his curse!  
Let us go and I will make things right!

The captain and his men look somewhat remorseful.

(Captain) Charmed by a vampir... how misfortunate.

A couple of them unsheathe swords and Siegfried does the same in return, obviously unsure of how he's going to handle this.

(Captain) You aided my men, and for that I'm offering to let you stand down.  
(Sieg) I won't hand him to you. If you wish to stop me, it will end with my death!  
(Captain) That man is not human.  
(Sieg) He will be!

The captain gives Siegfried an incredulous squint. His men look at him for orders and he sighs and nods.

(Captain) ...Take them, both of them.

The soldiers all arm themselves and approach as Siegfried readies himself-- he grips his sword and charges into the crowd of men, throwing himself amid them, busting armor and knocking soldiers down. He smashes two of them to the ground with his sword before a group dash in to surround and bind him in a shuffle-- Siegfried cries out in frustration as they quickly tie him up. He whips back to shout at Raphael:

(Sieg) Raphael!! If there ever were a time I needed you awake-- let it be now!!  
(Captain) (thought) ...French?

Raphael's brows twitch. He looks more sickly than usual.

(Raph) ...Mmh... quiet, please...  
(Sieg) Raphael!!

As they talk it starts raining blood again-- the soldiers all look around and Man2 starts to shudder.

(Man2) It's happening again! The sky is bleeding!

Siegfried twitches in his ropes, body crawling with discomfort. He shouts at Raphael again.

(Sieg) Stand, you idiot!! He's returned!!  
_Raphael!!_

The captain sends his men to recover Raphael. They tie him up and lift him as the captain orders;

(Captain) To the horses. Ten go, the rest, you stay with me.

He tosses a sack to one of the men nearest Siegfried and they throw it over his head.

(Sieg) Ghhn!!  
Stop! Stop this!! You'll all die!!

They ignore him (possibly because they don't understand what he's saying) and drag him away.

(Sieg) _Er ist gekommen-- der blaue reiter!!_  
(Captain) "The blue rider"?  
(Man6) The blue rider? Who is that?  
(Man7) Blue... rider...  
(Captain) I've never heard the name before.  
(Man7) Hmm.

From a black cloud, then, drops a man-sized blob of blood, and it hits the ground near the town center in a standing straight up gait-- the blood drains off what appears to be a a suit of broken armor and it walks slowly towards the soldiers, unbeknownst to them as tendrils of blood crawl out from under its feet, moving fast.  
One of the soldiers seems to have noticed something, but they ignore it, going along with the nine others to their horses outside town as Siegfried wails and kicks.

(Sieg) Laß mich gehen...! Du verstehst mich, doch?!  
(Man8) Shut up, german!

Man8 kicks Siegfried in the face, clipping him in the corner of his mouth.

(Sieg) Mm-!!

Blood tendrils come up on them rather quickly-- they don't notice until a vat of it opens up under them, drawing some of their feet inside. They immediately panic and start trying to pull each other out, and Raphael gets dropped into it in the confusion. Siegfried falls away, onto the cobblestone, and as the men haul each other into safety Siegfried whips his tied wrists behind him to slide his sidearm knife out and cut his hands free. Siegfried then cuts the bag off his neck and throws it aside-- he spots Raphael sinking into the black-blood pit and throws himself halfway into it, grabbing onto Raphael's arm.

(Sieg) Raphael!! 

Raphael is swallowed, and Siegfried panics as he's drawn in, still grasping his arm. He sheathes his knife and throws himself in.  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: In this chapter an awful monster tries to convince a character to let it kill him by convincing him of the supposed "benefit" of it-- although it's ultimately life-confirming, I imagine it's potentially very triggering.
> 
> Another TW for violent homophobia, as well.

In some foreign situation, context, time, in a laboratory of sorts that almost looks Victorian, Siegfried stands, covered in sweat with his right eye bandaged, at hand to Raphael as he seems to be mixing chemicals in a beaker. He pours over one, eyeing it with some concentration.

(Sieg) It's going to explode.  
(Raph) Stop saying that. I've told you already, it's a much smaller concoction this time.  
Spirit of Saturn... and...

He pulls up another beaker, making Siegfried shudder.

(Raph) ... _Eau oxygénée_...  
(Sieg) I can already smell it... that _smell_...  
(Raph) It's not making any smell, you're imagining things. I have something to prescribe for that, if you're interested.  
(Sieg) You're not a doctor.  
(Raph) Not _yet_... Siegfried, dear, hand me my water canister, I've just thought of something.

Siegfried rolls his eye(s) and turns to a nearby cabinet. _Patan, patan._

(Raph) You know, I think I'll write a paper for this one, but I haven't thought of a name...  
Oh, what about "Apex"? Because it's at the top! ...For hurting people, that is.

Siegfried opens one drawer and an awful garble of bones and flesh with a live, staring eye looks up at him. His face runs pale and he slams the drawer shut with both hands. Raphael notices.

(Raph) ...Do you need any help?  
(Sieg) F-For what?  
(Raph) Why, that long hair of yours. 

Siegfried grumbles, frowning.

(Sieg) It's fine.  
(Raph) It's dangerous.  
(Sieg) I know.

He slams a drawer and turns to give Raphael a flask of water.

(Sieg) I'm worried more for that compound.

Siegfried stares, a little terrified as Raphael puts drops of water into the peroxide.

(Sieg) (thought) It will still explode... It will still explode. It will still explode!

Something pulls his attention and he turns his face and glares behind him, concentrating particularly on the drawer that contained the monster-eye. He stares, sweating.

(Sieg) (thought) Something... There was something that I... Or-- what was I thinking of...?

Again, an emphasis on that drawer. It settles slightly, alarming him, before the sound of shattering glass grabs his attention-- he turns back to see that Raphael's concoction _did_ explode, and although he managed to shield his face, there are shards of broken glass in his shirt and forearm, but mostly Raphael brings his hand to his throat, which is prickled with shatters.  
Siegfried watches in detached horror before the room is engulfed in black.

A candle is lit, in darkness of a basement room built with uneven stone and the hurried sound of someone tying a rope. Siegfried, dressed in an armored tunic, turns to Raphael, who looks at a rope figure of a small man in his hand. He then quickly stands up, putting it in a bag.

(Sieg) I-- this is madness, you'll not make it there in time!  
(Raph) It's the only hope we have in keeping the _Romains_ at bay. If the gods won't hear us, then... well, I suppose they want us to die.

He quickly walks towards a tall staircase before turning back.

(Raph) Please, stay here for as long as you can. Even if you hear something happening above-- stay.

Siegfried looks exasperated.

(Sieg) ...I refuse.  
(Raph) I don't believe you're in the position to do so.  
Above all... keep her safe for me, yes?

Siegfried looks a little confused before he turns to his right-- a pale girl with red hair is staring back at him from a dark corner. Siegfried blinks.

(Sieg) (thought) This girl-- Amy...

His brows furrow.

(Sieg) (thought) ...Amy? Is that even a name?

He quickly turns back and just sees the trapdoor close, cutting off its brief light.  
He goes to stand up and Amy speaks to him.

(Amy) He told you to stay, did he not?

She holds a box in her hands. In the box is a tiny, blood-stained well.

(Amy) The well is here. We can stay for as long as we need.

Siegfried huffs and looks back towards the barely-lit stairs.

(Sieg) I... I cannot. We should all move together, instead of huddling in this hole, waiting for Iulius himself to come murder us.

He beckons to Amy;

(Sieg) Come! Let's follow your father!

She just stares at him, so he decides to move regardless. Almost immediately, he trips up in a hole in the floor and stares down into it, just as a red eye looks up at him and disappears. Siegfried panics.

(Amy) What did you see?

He looks back to her.

(Sieg) N-Nothing. Please, come with me.  
(Amy) No. If papa doesn't come back, I get to kill you.

Siegfried growls as he looks back to the staircase before stopping in his footsteps.

(Sieg) (thought) ...What... was I going to tell him? Something...  
Something important. 

He throws open the trapdoor and crawls out-- the surrounding landscape, which used to be a village, is in an apocalyptic state with clouds of smoke rolling between fire. There's no sign of anyone, save for a severed hand some feet away. Siegfried's heart drops and he runs over to it to pick it up (it's a left, a very important hand).

(Sieg) (thought) This... This is Raphael's! Dear God, this can't be!

He looks up and the moon, black, in a deep purplish sky among fiercely bright stars. Siegfried stares, nigh disconnected, and then remembers the eye, in that drawer and in the floor.

(Sieg) That's right...  
Right... _Him!_ He's done this!

He puts his hand to his forehead, eyes wide.

(Sieg) I know this cage... I know it well!

He then looks at the severed hand in his hand, and asks it;

(Sieg) Where are you, Raphael? We must meet again!

The hand seems hesitant for a moment, before pointing in the direction of pitch-black woods under the maroon sky.  
Siegfried gives a determined frown before putting the hand in a pouch at his side. He starts to run.

(Sieg) (thought) Raphael, please be safe...! I only have a week, before I must follow the Danube back to Wolfkrone...!  
Wait... a week? Why a week?

He shakes his head. Imagery, then, with associated sights;

(Sieg) (thought) I must keep my thoughts clear, return to reality-- the sky, raining blood again... the dead coming back to life... the Voivode's men, come to capture us.  
Amy, who I'd sworn to protect.  
_Him_ \-- the Azure Knight! He will return again and again, if I do not stop him! If I do not make clean Amy and Raphael's souls!  
Raphael...

Siegfried makes a dreading expression.

(Sieg) ...I must apologize to him...

Siegfried then slips and falls into darkness, seized with panic, and cries out before he hits a body of black water. As soon as he's under he frantically pulls the armored tunic off, and his boots, and swims, unable to find the surface. He runs out of air and his consciousness turns to dark.  
A vision, then, of a medieval suburb in Rouen.

(Sieg) (thought) ...This... This is...

Raphael stands on a balcony in sunset (in midsummer), watching as down in the courtyard below a man is being restrained and beaten by two others. He shows no emotion on his face as the men tiredly punch the third man-- one of them quickly pulls out a knife and stabs him (which we don't see). Raphael watches and then blinks, looking away like he's distracted, and draws off, walking. He quickly steps into a well-decorated room and throws a closet open, taking out a coat and putting it on. He takes from the back the Flambert, securing it to his side. He rustles through more things and sniffs-- he wipes his nose with the back of his wrist and sits down on a nearby chair, leaning back and sighing impatiently.  
His door bursts open as an over-dressed middle-aged woman pokes in and then immediately closes it.

(Aunt) Pardon me!  
(Raph) Ah-- _tante_ Léa, is there something--

He pauses and realizes she's gone. He gets up with a huff and leaves the room, looking for the lady.  
He turns a corner and sees her there-- 

(Aunt) Raphael!

He bows semi-formally and approaches, somewhat tired.

(Raph) _Tante_ Léa, there you are. Were you looking for something?  
(Aunt) Oh, I apologize, Raphael. I was looking to see if you knew where Laurent's family was and I didn't realize you were getting dressed.  
(Raph) Worry not, I wasn't.  
(Aunt) Either way, there's nothing to worry about, they found him. The boys roughed him up, it seems.  
(Raph) (thought) They did more than "rough him up"...  
I see.  
(Aunt) He's always getting into trouble, God knows what he did this time.  
Did you know he's a homosexualist? His whole family knows, it seems.  
(Raph) I've heard. We shouldn't be so open about this, though. The crown has more than a beating in mind.  
(Aunt) Yes, that's true, do forgive me. The past few years have made my words a little... loose, you see. But at least the boys saved them the trouble.  
Raphael, how old are you again?  
(Raph) I'm not going to tell you any more--  
(Aunt) I was--  
(Raph) I know precisely what you're meaning to say; "Raphael, you'll be old soon and you'll need someone to bury you because none of us will be left alive."  
(Aunt) Don't be such a _beast_ , I only wish to warn you; as an heir apparent the spinster isn't a good look, you know. Certainly you need not take such obvious advice from someone as lowly as me.  
(Raph) Please, my dear Léa, I trust you above all to bury me when I fall off a carriage or something.

Raphael kisses her cheek and walks off.

(Aunt) I refuse to bury you, Raphael, I'll get my gown dirty!  
(Raph) Ah-ha ha ha ha ha!

Raphael leaves the building, walking past the stain of what's likely more than a pint of blood and getting on a horse and just going.  
The horse gallops, and he tries to enjoy the feeling of the wind.  
The next dialogue is initially narration over a panel:

(Raph) ...How can I explain this? As far as I can understand it's not a matter humors or the like.

Raphael, then, sitting on a couch with his arms crossed, staring off in thought.

(Raph) (thought) Does this mean that I have some specific chemical imbalance? A malady of the brain? I don't feel malaised.  
(thought) Or perhaps it's as they say, and I hold within myself the soul of a woman? But that, too, doesn't quite feel right...

A woman in her 50's (his mother) shouts at him;

(Mere) _Raphael!_ It's far enough that I must reprimand you at your age-- a fully grown man-- but that you ignore me like a schoolboy!  
(Raph) Quite the opposite, madame Sorel, you have my undivided attention.  
(Mere) I will stand here and shout at you until dusk, if that's what it takes to teach you respect-- how many times have I warned you of going against monsieur Fournier? Regardless of what he says or does, it's his generosity that gives our family any weight in court!  
(Raph) Hmm.

He stares off again as she... goes off again.

(Raph) (thought) There isn't really much difference between the brains of a man and a woman-- I've seen them. But I suppose unless I cut my own head open I'll never really know how it compares.  
Or... perhaps I'm being misled. Perhaps the answer lies in something much less suspect-- the makeup of my liver, the arrangement of my capillaries. Or--

In court, Raphael sits next to his mother and with a light frown, he puts his hand gently to his chest.

(Raph) (thought) ...Could it be? That fondness lies in the heart?

He laughs to himself, "Hm!" as he ignores the conversation going on around him.

(Man9)...So, monsieur Fournier, you wish to employ the poor? What good will that do?  
(Fournier) It will encourage them to seek out more labour, in means other than war.  
(Mere) Don't you feel that to be somewhat foolish? You know how the poor are, once they find a means, they learn to be relentless.  
(Fournier) While that may be true...  
(Man9) ...Absurd.  
(Fournier) ...We cannot trust them to hold fealty to the state, and manual labour... well, you'd be surprised how much they would do for less than a mercenary is paid.  
(Man10) Much less, I imagine.  
(Man9) I still think you're giving them too much growth. And not to mention the rumours that you've been investing in... a foreign trade.  
(Fournier) All rumors of such are mere baseless fantasy, and whoever spread such hearsay _will_ be punished.  
(Mere) Do you have any clue as to who it was?

Monsieur Fournier puts a bag of some $10,000 worth of gold Francs on the floor next to his feet.

(Fournier) Not for certain, but I'd be willing to help someone feel more comfortable about sharing what they know.

The nobles stare at the bag as a flicker of the same idea comes to all of them.

(Mere) ...I could tell you! Why, it's quite obvious!  
(Man9) Madame Sorel, you know nothing!  
(Man11) It was Martin's son, his eldest. He's been eyeing your contracts.  
(Probably Martin) Still your tongue, sir! My son would never start worthless rumors about such a gentleman as monsieur Fournier!  
(Man11) I know how your family feels about the greater members of the court-- and that includes my family as well!  
(Mere) Monsieur Mercier, I'll have you know that I know quite a bit, since your wife finds me most trustworthy.  
(Man9) The both of you can have your mouths sewn shut, then, if that's the case! What trustworthiness is to be had amongst gossiping women?  
(Mere) Why, what a dreadful thing to say, sir!  
(Man11) If you have anything to say, Martin, then bring your son before us. We will have a confession!

Martin stands up, getting animatedly angry and approaches Man11.

(Martin) I dare you, say one more thing about my son! Have it out with you!  
(Man11) You know what he's done! Do not speak as if if were some secret!

Martin draws his sword as other members of the court gasp-- he stabs Man11 as he shrieks. Martin stands back, holding his bloody sword aside as other men of the court rush over to tend to Mann11, who wheezes in pain.

(Man12) Martin, you madman!!

Man12 walks over to shove Martin back and he doesn't take it kindly, pushing back-- Fournier watches, entertained. Raphael's mother daintily claps her hands and turns to her son who sits with his arms crossed and eyes closed like he's trying to sleep.

(Mere) All's well that ends well, no?  
(Raph) ...Right. 

As the chaos continues, Raphael gets up and leaves. Some people stare. He walks out into a warm summer evening and past a road with a beach nearby.  
On the shoreline Siegfried hauls himself up out of the water to fall nigh-lifelessly onto the sand, coughing up water. He spots Raphael and tries to shout to him, but only succeeds in coughing up more water. A long, grey arm stretches out from the churning waves, grabbing Siegfried by the leg. He coughs, struggling as a voice talks to him.

(Voice) Misfortune really does follow you and everyone you look at, you know, to be still alive this far.  
Did no-one put the snapdragon in your cradle? The left stocking, the right sleeve?

It pulls him back into the roaring peaks of the ocean, among the howling of dogs. With his face just above the surface Siegfried stares up as the light of the Evil Seed illuminates the sky.

(Sieg) (thought) ...Is that-- the Evil Seed?!

He's pulled under with an alarmed grunt and a splash. Darkness.

(Voice) Life as a noble is a hopeless act of balance. All emotion must be in check-- outrage, misery, yearning, all to be shown as a tasteful displeasure-- to allow the calamity of otherwise was unthinkable.  
The only acceptable brutality came from our tongues, but when the malefection urged an acquaintance to violence, certainly, only my sword could save me-- with my life in my hands... my family shared no comfort.

In a dark room with a tall mirror, Raphael backs up, bringing up in a table as a mindless, bloodthirsty nobleman charges in at him-- he manages to fight him off, once, twice, but he grabs Raphael by the throat to wring it-- Raphael struggles and impales him on the Flambert, immediately when he does, the art style changes to a sort of paper puppetry as a simplified, paper Raphael stabs a dude with a paper sword and his paper guts come out, + other accompanying imagery;

(Raph) We cared not for the rule of kings or God-- the highest Right was reputation, worth more than life itself.  
Thanks to you I lost my family and my home. But I wonder if either of those things were ever mine to begin with. Indeed, afterwards I found something much more important.

(He's talking about Amy.)

(Raph) But your influence-- the evil you spread in the world, could not be satisfied. It is inside me. Your power over me, it will not relent.  
I've been tired, my whole life, of the strings held by _nobless oblige_ \-- even as I cut them they're swept up by some other hand.  
Yes... by the boy who shred my life to splinters without any knowing, or design... who lead me without wanting.

Images of a bright, oblivious paper Siegfried.

(Raph) When we fought in that devil's chapel, then, was your second hand in my life. 

A cut to something "real": in Ostrheinsburg Siegfried (as Nightmare) feels himself lift an awful, giant sword, ready to strike someone at his feet-- he stares down and sees a bloodied Raphael turn his face, bracing for a blow, and Siegfried stills, looking at him.  
Raphael slowly looks up, obviously exhausted and, frankly, near death, in expectant confusion.  
Siegfried takes little time deciding to toss the be-eyed sword aside and uncomfortably pull the helmet from his head, tossing that aside, too. He looks down at Raphael with grayish flesh and deeply bloodshot, orange and yellow eyes (and what appears to be actually deep red hair? I'm thinking of his 1P), and kneels to carefully put his giant bone-hand on him, as Raphael stares, alarmed, and covered in blood and sweat.

(Nightmare) _...FINALLY... I'VE FOUND YOU!_  
(Raph) Wh-What manner of creature are you--? A _man?_

Nightmare grabs him by his arm.

(Nightmare) _COME, OUR JOURNEY IS NOT YET OVER..._  
_WE MUST RETURN, TO THE CASTLE, REMEMBER-- YOU WERE BAKING A CAKE!_  
(Raph) H-... Hah?

Grey hands slam a book of paper closed with an explosion of paper shreds in low-lit darkness.

(Voice) And then, tales of the Holy Sword... How was I to know it would lead me to you?  
How mortifying...

Raphael, now also similarily gaunt and uncomfortably inhuman-looking (, etc), tosses the book carelessly behind him with a sigh and continues to speak, to an inhuman Siegfried, as they sit in tattered and dirty clothes (or in Siegfried's case, nearly unidentifiably dirty and bloodied armor) next to a single floor-bound lantern in the surrounding darkness.

(Raph) I have every right to hate you. I did.  
And yet this... parasite or something inside me-- it's turned that hatred into an affection that consumes me at times.  
Or... an admiration, as it may be... A man who rose from his ashes... No family, no companions.  
A beautiful, lonely fellow, mired in an indelible dark, as he reaches... into the light...

A grayish hand is raised, into the dark. Nightmare-Siegfried stares, orangey eyes wide before he feels a sharp pain in his ribs. He realizes what it is-- not kidney stones, but the shard of the Soul Calibur inside him as it shines like a prism, breaking off the grey of his flesh like dry mud. He reaches up, pulling the mat of clinging, awful skin from his right eye, taking the color with it-- he blinks as he breathes deep, everything back to normal.  
He immediately looks up at Raphael who glares down at him.

(Sieg) "Parasite"... _"Parasite"...?!_  
Of course, how could you understand?! In a land where love can be mistaken for some illness--!! That's the only way to make sense of it!

He grabs un-human Raphael's hands, grasping them tight, exasperated and nearly teary.

(Sieg) I don't know much about _science_ or anything of the sort, but what I've learned is that love is in spite of many things-- and it will be in spite of whatever you find it to _be_ , simple in cause or otherwise. It is an undeniable _feeling_ \-- it cannot be sullied by perception or description--  
Even if it were a parasite, for it to show you something far greater than the fear that your family has sown so deep-- even so!

He holds Raphael's hands close.

(Sieg) I know you've been waiting so terribly long, to meet one you could trust... at the very least you could think of it as something good!  
(Raph) Something... good? What need have I for trust? Your curse is to unite us-- the world under my command!  
(Sieg) Not yours-- under _His!_ And you, to live in a venomous dream with every thought a lie!  
I know as well you tire of illusion, of being used. And He wants all there is of you, for His own ends. He will have this world if He can enslave you!  
(Raph) How am I to know?  
(Sieg) Have faith-- I won't betray your trust. How could I? I accept you and what you feel-- after all, you had the heart to think well of me in spite of all I've done! The kindness we have shown each other, I know in my heart that it is no deception!  
No-- it is not for us to both be under _His_ spell, but for you to join me in humanity!

Siegfried reaches under the collar of his armor to pull out the Holy Stone, which glows blindingly bright in the darkness.  
Siegfried then looks Raphael in the eyes before pulling him almost roughly against the mail of his armor, hugging him.  
Raphael squeezes his eyes shut. As the glow of the stone engulfs them, he relaxes, hugging Siegfried back.

In the real world, a light envelops Siegfried and Raphael, cleansing them of the Souledge's sky-and-castle blood, as they sit, hugging. When they draw back, they gaze at each other before Raphael is quietly a little astounded;

(Raph) ...The thirst... is gone...  
(Sieg) Are you... alright? No pains or anything?

Raphael sits back, not too attached to the contact. He brushes himself off.

(Raph) Aside from my arm? I feel... deeply hungry, I think.

Siegfried grabs him, giving him an enthusiastic hug.

(Sieg) Finally! After all the toil... you're finally free! _Gott sei dank!_

He laughs a little and leans back to take Raphael's face in his hands-- Raphael melts ever so slightly before Siegfried blanks;

(Sieg) ...Blue!

Raphael then freezes before he pushes Siegfried's hands off him-- he gets up and runs towards the castle. Siegfried is surprised for a moment before he stands up to do the same.  
On a road in town Captain Dumitru hastily mounts a horse as one man runs to catch up with him, but is grabbed by the bloody suit of armor that earlier fell from the sky. He struggles to get away as it slowly raises its sword (made of the same reddish steel).

(Captain) _Grăbește-te!_  
(Man) _Ma ajuți!!_

The captain turns the horse around and rides back, heaving his sword to cut the armor's head off, and he does-- there's a moment where it doesn't move, and the captain's man wriggles free in time to be hauled onto the horse with the captain.  
The armor's head replaces itself, growing back onto its neck as the horse gallops away at full-speed, past Siegfried and Raphael. They turn their attention to the man of steel and blood about three houses away and Siegfried immediately steps in front of Raphael, between them.

(Raph) !  
(Sieg) Go to Amy! I'll hold him back!  
(Raph) Don't be a fool, I don't even know where she is!  
Have you even a sword?!  
(Sieg) I have my knife.  
(Raph) A _knife?_  
(Sieg) Time is of the essence!

Raphael looks at the armor, thudding closer and closer, then back to Siegfried.

(Raph) This is ridiculous, I refuse to leave your life to chance. Come.

He grabs a confused Siegfried's hand and pulls him into a nearby alley where they run, towards the castle.

(Sieg) Wh-- _Hey!_  
(Raph) You're not a mercenary under my employ any more and I'm not going to divide my attention keeping both of you safe!  
(Sieg) I'm not a _child_ \--  
(Raph) Quiet, I can't hear a thing!

Siegfried turns to look and sees the armor spill out some of those blood tendrils. He stops in time to bat them out of the air and stomp one that fell near his feet. Raphael picks up a somewhat hefty brick and whips it at the armor, hitting it in the head, knocking its gaze aside. It stops and slowly starts correcting its injury as Siegfried and Raphael stare in some surprise. They then continue running.  
The "blood" keeping the armor together (and spewing living pieces of itself) makes the steel rattle and melts together to form a slimy blob that carries itself, moving faster the more ground it covers. Raphael and Siegfried see it barreling towards them and they try to run faster-- they come to a rusted gate; Raphael hops up onto a box and jumps over it, hands on the black metal, and Siegfried charges though the door, hastily locking it from the other side with a panel of wood.  
They scramble away but the "blob" throws itself through the rungs-- Raphael flinches as he barely escapes being hit by it by (incidentally) standing in between the strained streams. Siegfried, though, has his right arm caught in it, to his dismay. As it reforms itself behind them, taking its time rearranging the suit of armor inside it, Raphael catches himself with one knee on the stone ground as Siegfried tries to push the slime-blood off his right gauntlet.  
The blood surrounding the armor recedes back inside it and it pulls out its weapon again (a steel blade), slowly walking towards them. Raphael stands, freezing in indecision.

(Sieg) I'll distract him!  
(Raph) And then what? You need a follow-through if you're going to sacrifice yourself! What a waste!  
(Sieg) I can't _think_ of anything more!  
(Raph) Your blind carelessness will only lead you to your death, and nothing more!

Siegfried just frowns and pulls out his blood-stained knife in a quick motion. Just as the armor stomps closer the point of a sword juts through its neck and slices its head off. As it stills, trying to remotely recover its helmet of goo, on a stair behind it stands Amy (now not a vampire), and she holds her sword back.

(Amy) ...Papa.  
(Raph) _Amy!_ Well-done, my dear!  
(Amy) You said something about Monsieur Schtauffen sacrificing himself? Perhaps I should have waited.

They run past the suit just as it starts to right itself again.  
Some steps away Amy hands Raphael the Flambert.

(Raph) Wonderful.  
(Sieg) Even if we're armed, I doubt we could kill it-- blades seem to do very little but slow its movement.

Raphael huffs through his nose and looks up at the still-bizarre sky, brows crinkled. Siegfried glances around.

(Sieg) Amy, were you in the town center? Did you see my sword there?

Amy looks him in the eyes;

(Amy) Die.

Siegfried just squints in thoughtful annoyance before Raphael grabs his attention.

(Raph) This started-- and this _thing_ appeared when those rude ghosts filled up the kitchen, yes?  
(Sieg) It must be a hand of the Evil Blade-- its effort in the name of taking your body for its own ends.  
(Raph) Then... is it me? Am I giving means to its life somehow?  
(Sieg) Now? No more than I am, I would think.

The armor approaches and they all step back, getting into fight positions.

(Sieg) (thought) If this truly is some incarnation of the Evil Blade... why is it somehow weak?  
...It requires a host, or some semblance of such-- why else would it need a powerless heart to hold it? Then is this all it can muster by itself?

Siegfried gets distracted by a throbbing in his right forearm-- he flinches and stares at it, bothered.  
Raphael swings his sword aside, impatient.

(Raph) I'm doing my best, but of all I've heard of the Souledge's puppetry I can think of very little set in these sorts of circumstances!  
Be on your guard!

Amy nods, holding her sword in front of her. The creature turns towards her, attempting to cut her down, but Raphael intercepts, beating the armor's blade aside. Amy dashes in and quickly slides her sword into the unguarded armpit and quickly steps back out of range. The armor's goo bubbles slightly before it continues trying to attack her. Raphael defends her again.

(Raph) It certainly cares for little beyond its focus!  
_Au fer!_

Raphael lets Amy in to deflect its sword and Raphael winds up to cut its head off again before its neck opens up, grabbing onto the blade of the Flambert the moment it makes contact, and Raphael can't pry it away. He puts a foot against its breastplate and kicks it off his sword, sending it to the ground.  
The armor immediately reforms, and charges at Raphael, who dodges just in time. He looks towards Siegfried;

(Raph) Siegfried, what are you doing?

He notices, then, Siegfried is kneeling on the ground holding his arm and in so much pain he's sweating. Raphael stares for a moment, alarmed, before he turns back to the fight at hand.

(Raph) What's happening?!

Siegfried can barely respond.

(Sieg) -- I...  
(thought) ..."Puppetry"... Is this, too...?

He raises his head and a sharp light glares from the wayside-- Siegfried turns to see a peculiar, bright light at the foot of the castle, and squints. Suddenly, he thinks of something.

(Sieg) (thought) If it would not be vanquished by cleansing Raphael, then... 

He turns to Raphael, who defends a blow with no small effort.

(Sieg) Raphael... please, hold your ground, I must go to the castle!  
(Raph) H-Hmm?!

Siegfried forces himself to stand up and stumbles away.

(Raph) Wait a moment!

Siegfried hobbles past the town's outskirts and makes it to the castle's stairs, slowly climbing them. His arm seizes in pain, causing him to buckle over. Immediately images of Nightmare's giant claw-arm come to his mind-- a voice calls to him.

(Voice) ...What makes you so worthy? What about you makes you deserve mercy, more than anyone else?  
Fall by the wayside, and let this world breathe without its murderers.

Siegfried pants deep and forces himself to stand.

(Voice) Have you given thought to how easy it would be, for those who hate you, and those who know you, to live free of your presence?  
(Sieg) Shut up...

He throws the door aside and enters-- the castle is still covered in blood. He looks around, searching.

(Voice) I could make it easy. Easier than hanging or drowning.  
(Sieg) Shut up...!

He goes upstairs and looks, but nothing is too out of the ordinary, save for the absolute mess.

(Voice) It will be instantaneous. I will make it so others will forget you-- your memory wiped from this earth, with your sins.  
Or else what you've done is of no consequence?

Siegfried tries to hurry, but he trips up, almost catching himself with his right arm, but the pain in it brings him to the floor with a KTHUMP.

(Voice) Your will is absolute arrogance. Mere spit in the face of all you've hurt!

He pulls himself off the hardwood with complete struggle, and raises his head as angry tears bead in his eyes.

(Voice) Come! Come to me, and I'll cleanse the world of the mistake you've made, to keep living!  
(Sieg) You bastard...! Let me be!  
(Voice) What makes you special? Why, "to be" is a gift gone undeserved! 

He sobs, head resting on the floor, before he grits his teeth and continues, going back downstairs. He comes to the stairway leading to the rotten pantry, black with blood and darkness. He goes down, drawn by a je ne sais quoi.

(Voice) Come, and your hands I will clean. I will ease this world by taking you, its cancer, from under its skin!

Siegfried is somewhat susceptible-- his expression turns distant and melancholic as he makes his way down the stairs. When he gets to the bottom he blinks, mind clear and determination returning to his face.

(Voice) Can you not feel every part of you, longing for nothingness?  
Your heart, it wants to vanish.  
Your soul, it wants punishment-- but I will show one last mercy, to make it unsullied.  
If you want solitude, to never hurt another ever again, death will give this to you!

Siegfried sniffs back all the snot in his face before he drops to the ground in the dark, quiet basement and takes out his knife to jam into a crack in the floor's stone, and pry it open.  
He thumbs at the heavy chunk and forces his aching, painful arm to haul it out with all his strength-- underneath is the splay of bone and flesh with a single red eye, glaring up at him in complete disgusted rage. In a heartbeat Siegfried raises his knife and stabs it in the eye, causing it to shriek and grow out, shooting at Siegfried blood-soaked coils of flesh to attach itself to his right arm, covering his forearm completely.  
Outside, the possessed suit of armor stills, quivering, as Raphael and Amy watch, exhausted and wary. Raphael quickly turns and looks to the castle.  
In the basement, Siegfried struggles, in panic.

(Souledge) You want redemption?! _Death will be your redemption!_  
(Sieg) The dead are powerless-- and dead you will be!!

The Souledge grows a hand of shifting, bloody matter to quickly grab Siegfried's throat, and he chokes, trying to keep it from wringing his neck.

(Sieg) Mmg-- Nn!!  
(thought) ...R... Raphael...!

Siegfried's right arm shakes as he forces it to raise, inching closer to his throat-- the moment it passes near the Holy Stone resting on his chest, there's an explosion of light and both Siegfried and the Souledge stare in shock.

(Sieg) --?!  
(Souledge) What...  
What is this?!

The Souledge's body, whatever's left, is drawn, ripped, even, into the stone, turning its blue-green dark.  
Siegfried sits for a moment, coughing, and rests on his hands and knees, gasping for air as the pendant around his neck swings. He grabs it and stares at it as he pants, and watches as it turns jet and cracks-- with a gasp he raises his other arm slightly, shielding his face.  
After a moment of silence he relaxes slightly, staring at the stone in confusion. The sound of footsteps echoes down the staircase as Raphael almost falls down them in his haste.

(Raph) Siegfried!!

He runs over to grab Siegfried's shoulders. He notices the blood over his arm and neck (and other places, I'm sure).

(Raph) Are you unharmed?! Wounds?!

Siegfried looks up at him and shakes his head, still a little lost on what just happened.  
After they just sit in silence for a moment, Siegfried sighs in relief. He puts an arm on Raphael and leans on him.

(Sieg) It's... over.  
...I'm certain it's over.

Raphael almost holds him and hums a grunty sigh.

(Raph) The next time you run off on a hunch, please tell me of your plans. For all I knew Amy and I could have been fighting that knight-fellow... monster for the rest of the night!  
(Sieg) I apologize...  
(Raph) Never mind it.

He pats Siegfried's shoulder.

(Raph) Can you stand? We must leave the castle, quickly.

They get up (and leave the basement). In the kitchen Raphael steps over rubble to throw things into a sack on the counter, with Siegfried attending.

(Sieg) ...Why are we...  
(Raph) Two men got away, on a horse, and I've little doubt that they're making their way to the Romanian Court to call upon the prince's aid to destroy this place. Take everything you can carry, we will need it.

Siegfried scratches the back of his neck and walks off, thinking. On his way out of the kitchen area Amy passes by with a stuffed bag over her shoulder, dressed for travel.  
In Siegfried's tower-room, he glances around the ransacked, bare room and opens the closet, noting the nothingness. The moon in the window draws his attention and he stands, staring at it-- the pale, yellow moon hanging in a dark, blue sky. Siegfried leaves the room.  
Outside the front gates Siegfried shrugs a heavy bag onto his back, led by Raphael and Amy.

(Raph) ...Ready for some walking, my dear?

Both Siegfried and Amy grunt, and she shoots him a glare as he pretends to ignore her and the fact that he answered that at all.  
They walk. They pass by the soaked shadow of a man on the ground in town, which Siegfried takes interest in.

(Raph) What's left of it. It utterly disappeared, lucky for us.  
And if we continue to be lucky... then there's nothing left of that cursed thing in this world.

Siegfried blinks as Raphael starts to walk away, and puts his fingers on his mail, where that pendant still is. They continue walking.  
In the deep night, on a path of lower snow by a quiet stream Raphael looks at Siegfried as he holds the pendant out for him to see. Amy sits, resting on a nearby fallen log as she eats a piece of bread.

(Raph) ...You mean to say it's _inside_ that? Or something of the sort?  
(Sieg) I believe so.  
(Raph) ... _I see_.  
Well, breaking it should be avoided, I suppose?  
(Sieg) I'm not willing to see what that would do.  
(Raph) Hmm. Keep it, around your neck is where it's safest.

They continue, and then they stay in an abandoned house by the riverside. Raphael lights a fire in the hearth in what's assumably the kitchen, and goes about lighting lamps and candles.  
Siegfried sits on a bed, out of his armor, wiping his neck with a wet cloth. At some point Raphael slides into the room with several slices of cake (stollen), but stops when he sees that Siegfried is asleep on the bed. He quietly walks over and looks at him, sleeping peacefully, face relaxed and unbothered. With a soft fondness tugging at his lips, he puts a hand on Siegfried's shoulder for a moment, then leans in to kiss him on the cheek.  
In the early morning Siegfried wakes in relative darkness, looking around. Amy is asleep in a nearby bed, wrapped up in all manners of blanket, with Raphael curiously absent.  
Siegfried walks out, past the kitchen, and pokes outside to see Raphael leaning against the house as he drinks some kind of hot beverage in the cold. Siegfried goes out.

(Sieg) Here you are... It's awfully cold.

Raphael gestures to a distant hill with some bright light standing out upon it; a fire, as the castle they were living in is razed to the ground (or close enough). Siegfried comes out into the cold.

(Sieg) ...The castle.

Siegfried turns back to Raphael.

(Sieg) I... I'm sorry things turned out this way.  
(Raph) Nothing to mourn about, I think. This isn't the first time I've had a castle destroyed.  
We're alive, that's what matters.

Raphael then seems slightly amused. Siegfried is somewhat cautious.

(Raph) Alive... "Alive." Hm.  
(Sieg) How... How is it. Being human.  
(Raph) It's nostalgic.

Raphael takes a sip and continues;

(Raph) I think I'd forgotten what it was like, to some degree. Senses dulled, fatigue, hunger... I won't sleep soundly. I never did. But...  
I want to see the sun.  
It's only been less than a year, but it feels like it's been an eternity.

He looks at Siegfried, who's staring pensively at the snowy ground.

(Raph) Don't tell me you're feeling guilty about something. You've done very well, an enormous task that most would never even begin to bother with.  
The _bête noire_ is vanquished. You're in one piece. If there were any time in your life to dance, it's here-- dance, my friend.

He sips from the cup again, watching that dot of fire in the distance.

(Sieg) ...There's something I... I need to confess...

Raphael looks at Siegfried, who's so racked with guilt he can't look Raphael in the face.

(Sieg) I... When I took you from the church... When you were unconscious... I... I...

Siegfried's face turns red and his hands clench into fists.

(Sieg) ...I kissed you...

Raphael stares at him, surprised.

(Raph) You... did what?

Siegfried glares up at him like "you know what I just said." Raphael is a little thrilled by the idea-- he does his best not to sound or look mocking as he reins in his reaction.

(Raph) ...I wouldn't have expected that.  
(Sieg) I know an apology will never suffice... You were unconscious, unable to protest. It was without admission.  
(Raph) That's true.

One more sip and the cup's done. He dumps the ends out into the snow.

(Raph) At the very least I can be glad Amy wasn't there to see.  
(Sieg) Raphael, if you wish to punish me, you may do as you please. I will accept.  
(Raph) Well...

He looks at Siegfried, turning to him on the way back into the abandoned house.

(Raph) I order you to go back to bed, young man, and get some rest. It's been an eventful night.  
(Sieg) It has.

Siegfried watches him as he walks past, towards the door, before he grabs Raphael from behind, into a tight hug. Siegfried buries his face in Raphael's back (/shoulder), squeezing his eyes shut. Raphael freezes, not wholly sure of how to react, and very surprised.

(Sieg) ...Resist, push me away if it's what you wish.

Raphael breathes deeply. He then looks over his shoulder at Siegfried before he gently pries his hands off-- Raphael turns around and threads his arms around Siegfried.  
He watches as Siegfried brings his face closer to his, staring at his lips. They gently kiss.  
Parting, they gaze warmly (perhaps shyly) into each other's eyes before kissing again but deeper-- Siegfried pulls Raphael's body against his as Raphael reaches up to cup the back of his head and run his fingers through Siegfried's hair.  
They awkwardly lean back for a moment, panting lightly, and look at each other-- Siegfried seems expectant before he suddenly starts to cry, lowering his face.  
Somewhat surprised and concerned, Raphael holds him as he pushes his face into the collar of Raphael's shirt and sobs.

(Sieg) Mmg--...! Mn...!  
I...!!

Siegfried's breath turns ragged as he tries to speak.

(Sieg) I... must betray the trust of others...  
...no more...!

Biting his lip;

(Sieg) No more...!

He sobs, nearly wailing as Raphael hugs him, tears in his eyes, too-- he then sobs in kind. They cry on each others' shoulders, both holding tight.  
Soon after, they sit in the pitch-dark kitchen area silently eating stollen. Siegfried brings his head up slightly, eyes and nose red.

(Sieg) Mm. It's familiar... The fruit is a nice touch.

Raphael makes a light, contemplative frown, eyes and nose red.

(Raph) Yes, it seems that the "creature" had some cooking wits about him...

Amy wanders into the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket, half asleep, as Raphael and Siegfried watch.

(Amy) ...What are you two doing.  
(Raph) Oh, nothing too worrying, I think. We can't sleep.  
(Amy) So you were crying? You're not a baby, papa.  
(Sieg) ...That was me.

Amy gives him a stone-cold stare as Siegfried tries to look unaffected. She looks at Raphael, then, as he talks to her.

(Raph) Would you like me to tuck you in?  
I could heat up a stone if you're too cold.

She brings a hand to her chin, thinking.

(Amy) ...I...

She then turns back to the bedroom(s);

(Amy) No.

And leaves. Raphael watches her, and sighs a "Hmmh..." before following her.  
Siegfried listens as the mumble of Raphael's voice sounds from the adjacent room. He shoves the rest of the stollen he has into his mouth.  
Some days later, at the outskirts of a town, the three of them count out coins on a broken board in the snow. They have quite a bit-- Siegfried notices that most of them are a familiar mint:

(Sieg) How did you manage to hold onto so many _franks?_  
(Raph) We spent most of the Wallachian coins.  
What's this?

He thumbs two or so _Daalder_ as Siegfried squints. He then looks to Raphael;

(Sieg) ...Would we be recognized here? You don't suppose there's a bounty on us, do you?  
(Raph) ...Hmm.  
I hadn't thought of that.

Amy grabs a handful of coins and puts them in her pocket as Raphael and Siegfried stare.

(Amy) You babies stay here and be quiet.  
(Raph) --Amy.

She leaves, and they follow from a distance. From the corner of a house Raphael watches as Amy tries to buy food from a market, pretending she's mute. Some people give her suspicious looks.  
Siegfried hovers over Raphael's shoulder.

(Sieg) ...If they don't comply?  
(Raph) Then she'll steal. Don't worry, she's very good at it.

Siegfried sighs through his nose as he leans back, crossing his arms. He takes a few moments before speaking again, expression typically frowny.

(Sieg) I'm not sure if I've ever felt... lips as soft... as yours.

Raphael whips back to stare wide-eyed at Siegfried and make some strange noises and blush slightly.

(Raph) Mnm-- ah? Yy-- _nn?_

Siegfried frowns more, self-conscious.

(Sieg) Mm-- ...--  
(growls)...  
(Raph) Where... Why this?  
(Sieg) I... I wanted to say it, that's all!

Raphael dashes over and covers Siegfried's mouth as he (Siegfried) frowns.

(Raph) Shush!

Raphael smiles, albeit somewhat bitterly and starts idly playing with a tendril of Siegfried's hair;

(Raph) ...Strange man...  
You would never know, how sweet it is... why, just as sweet as I'd imagined, kissing you...

Raphael sighs, disappointed;

(Raph) I've never said anything so predictable in my life.  
(Sieg) D-Do you... mean that?  
(Raph) Do you not trust me?

Siegfried sweats, blushing.

(Sieg) I... I do, i-it's just that...

The french-man is unusually comforting;

(Raph) I-I understand. Truthfully, I too am quite afraid.  
At my age, to finally know of a man who would hesitate to shove a blade under my ribs in spite of what he knew...  
(Sieg) Raphael, don't say such things... You're safe.  
(Raph) Yes... Yes.

Raphael steps back, hands on Siegfried's shoulders as he tiredly lets his head rest on the german's breastplate.

(Raph) ...I quite thank you for that.

Siegfried takes Raphael by the shoulders, then, and suddenly pushes him off-- after a moment of surprise, Raphael notices that Siegfried is looking at Amy as she approaches-- "Oh--" Immediately he backs off from Siegfried's personal space, trying to seem like he's behaved.

(Raph) Amy, how did you fare?  
(Amy) You were watching, weren't you?

A painful grimace comes across Raphael's face as Siegfried tries to redirect.

(Sieg) D-Did they accept the gold?  
(Amy) No. But I got some things.  
(Raph) Wonderful. Let's leave before anyone notices, then...

Later, as they travel further into the snow-filled countryside, Siegfried sighs, staring unto the path from under his miserable eyelids.

(Sieg) (thought) ...How long am I to do this?  
Am I to ignore my duties? To abandon the kingdom?

Amy manages to catch Siegfried's attention as he helps her down a slippery cliffage.  
She glares him in the eyes (or what he'd interpret as a glare)-- he returns her stare, frowning trepidly before she grabs a handful of his hair and yanks with all her strength (and the same emotionless expression).

(Sieg) Ah--gn...!  
(Amy) Hm. Don't think I don't know what you're doing.

Siegfried blinks, staring at her in surprised confusion. She lets go of his locks and continues down the path, towards a watchful Raphael.

(Raph) ...Did I hear a voice?  
(Amy) Nothing important.

He nods in acceptance and they all go on.  
At some point, as the stay in an Inn somewhere, Siegfried wakes up in the middle of the night (as he oft does) and sees Amy standing near-ish his bed with a kitchen knife in her hand. He bolts up, alarmed. She then takes out an apple, peeling it.

(Amy) ...Didn't you say you had no intentions of staying with us, and that you had to return to some princess somewhere?  
(Sieg) Shouldn't you be asleep?  
(Amy) You've done your job. He's been saved, like he saved you.  
(Sieg) I know.  
(Amy) Then what? You don't belong.  
(Sieg) I know!

He sighs, pushing his hair from his face.

(Sieg) Can we not talk about this in the morning?  
(Amy) It _is_ morning, idiot.

Siegfried lies back down with a growl.

(Sieg) ...I apologize, Amy... I'd let you kill me, but I have too much to do.  
(Amy) Excuses.

She leaves, and he falls asleep again. Outside the inn's room Amy runs into Raphael as he comes back from probably eyeing any military presence. He's absolutely calm as he speaks.

(Raph) Amy.  
(Amy) I tried to intimidate monsieur Schtauffen into leaving on his own. It didn't work.  
(Raph) Foolish. He's immune to intimidation.  
Are you still intent on killing him?  
(Amy) So long as you think he's a suitable wife or what-have-you.  
(Raph) I have no idea what you're talking about. A wife?  
If that were even the case, he wouldn't stand for it. And I wouldn't _beg_.

He beckons her away from the door.

(Raph) Come.

She follows him away.  
Later, in the crowded inn proper, Siegfried comes downstairs from the bedrooms to be beckoned to a dark corner where Raphael and Amy sit, wearing hoods and looking unassuming. Siegfried is guided behind Raphael to be obscured, and gives a vague point to a young man who's with some Wallachian cops. They seem to talk to the barkeep.  
Siegfried leans in towards Raphael.

(Sieg) Shall we leave?  
(Raph) I'm not sure... The innkeeper came over to speak to us, but what with the language barrier...  
It seems they're looking for someone else.

Siegfried stares at the young man, fairly hard. He almost looks worried. Raphael notices.

(Raph) ...Do you know him?

Siegfried shakes his head.  
The young man steps into the greater part of the inn, obviously tired, snow on his boots and legs, and raises his fist to try to get the room's attention.

(Bouya) (in German) I've traveled... for days and nights on end... to find you, wherever you are!  
On the fifth month, of four years ago... you murdered my mother and father... and I could hide from your black shadow no more!

Raphael stares as the guy talks, discerning what he can with a look of bothered concentration as Siegfried just stares off, waiting.

(Bouya) Whether I live or die, I will see your blood, Azure Knight-- Nightmare!!

Raphael immediately looks at Siegfried. He puts a hand on his arm.

(Raph) Let him go. Let him blow his steam, and leave.

Siegfried stands up, pushing his way out as Raphael stares, a little incredulous. Amy watches him, emotionless;

(Amy) Hm. Idiot.

Siegfried approaches the guy, keeping a safe distance, and catches his attention.

(Bouya) Who are you?

Siegfried quietly frowns at him.

(Sieg) I am Nightmare, the one you're searching for.

The guy takes a moment to stare at him, somewhat suspicious. Raphael shouts from the back; " _Ne soyez pas fou!_ "

(Sieg) The blood you want, it is in my veins. But I will not let you kill me.  
(Bouya) That's... awfully audacious... Did you come here to continue your warpath? To kill more innocent old men and women?  
You're a bloodthirsty, pathetic bastard... But don't worry, even if I don't kill you, the army of soldiers on their way here will.

Siegfried looks a touch alarmed, but keeps his calm and waits. The young guy tenses up, full of anger, and quickly unsheathes a dirk to stab Siegfried as everyone in the Tavern watches-- catching his stabbing hand, Siegfried pulls his arm along with the force of it, and gives the dude a brutal knee in the stomach, knocking him out instantly. He lets him slide to the floor with a _flump_.  
The crowd of people are mostly quiet, but some raise their drinks and others clap. Siegfried picks the guy up and carries him over to Raphael's table to beckon--

(Raph) That's it? I was expecting something a little more grand with the buildup.  
(Sieg) Out!

In their room, the unconscious younger guy is left on one of the beds as they quickly gather up their things.

(Raph) An army? That's all he said?  
(Sieg) Yes.  
(Raph) Just for you? That hardly seems right.  
(Amy) We could let him get captured, and escape on our own. What do you say?  
(Sieg) If that's what it comes down to, then yes, you shall.  
(Raph) Stop that, the both of you!

Amy leaves a handful of gold on a table, and they sneak out the window to disappear from town.  
They continue on the road, stopping sometimes to listen. Amy sighs.  
Siegfried turns to Raphael to stop him and listen again-- 

(Sieg) ...Voices.

The three of them dash behind a low-rising cobblestone wall and listen harder, to speaking and footsteps.  
A handful of Romanian travelers pass by, and Raphael listens before he glances at Siegfried, who's smiling, almost brightly as he waits. Raphael shoots back somewhat. 

(Raph) Wh-- 

He leans in slightly;

(Raph) A-Are you... smiling?

Siegfried gives a look of surprise as he turns to Raphael.

(Sieg) --?  
(Raph) When I just looked at you...

Siegfried stutters a little, looking away somewhat, nervous.

(Sieg) --I'm sorry...  
(Raph) Far be it from me to tell you to stop.

Siegfried meekly meets Raphael's gaze. The travelers are visibly distant, beyond where they're hidden.

(Sieg) I think... I'm somewhat glad, in spite of things.

Raphael is somewhat amused;

(Raph) _Glad?_ What for?  
(Sieg) To be...

He thinks, sitting back. 

(Sieg) ...Free, I think.  
(Raph) In a manner of speaking... I suppose being in a constant state of hiding and running has so far been fairly normal for you.  
(Sieg) That will end someday.  
(Raph) One can hope.  
(Sieg) Regardless, I have things I can be thankful for...

Siegfried turns to Raphael, mild and sincere.

(Sieg) Thank you.  
Raphael, I...

Amy smashes a huge snowball over Siegfried's head, coating it in snow. As Raphael gives a soft glare over his shoulder the German slowly turns his head to shoot Amy an angry, irritated stare. She looks to her father with a light frown in her otherwise stony expression.

(Amy) Papa, what is your plan?  
Are we truly going to follow this dimwit about the countryside for the rest of your lives?  
Are you not tired of all this? The walking in the cold, the hunger?  
Although I tire less of that than hearing this cretin speak so sweetly to you-- it makes me want to break things.  
(Raph) Amy... had I known you were so upset...  
(Amy) Then we would have abandoned him at the doors of a church? So let's abandon him at the doors of a church.

Siegfried shakes the snow off him.

(Raph) My intent is to leave Wallachia, so we could outpace the prince's men.  
(Amy) Beyond that? What then?  
(Raph) Why... we _have_ uprooted...

Raphael turns his attention fully to Amy;

(Raph) Amy, what do you wish?

Taking a second to answer, she steps back and unsheathes her sword as the other two stare. She rests the flat end of the blade against Siegfried's annoyed face. Amy is monotonous, as usual.

(Amy) I wish to challenge Mister Schtauffen.  
(Sieg) _Leck mich am_ \--  
(Raph) You may not. He's ceaselessly dangerous.  
(Amy) Papa, this is not a matter of danger-- I will fight him for your honor.  
(Raph) I'm flattered you think I have any honor left.

Amy taps her sword under Siegfried's chin as he continues to frown.

(Amy) So? Will you accept my challenge, like the virtuous goody two-shoes you are?  
(Sieg) _Do you think_ \--  
(Raph) Do not accept her challenge under any persuasion, Siegfried.  
(Sieg) _I won't_.  
Amy, you can threaten me all you like.  
(Amy) Is that so. Then... if you do not leave us, I will beat you unconscious, cut off your hair, shred your dresses and douse you in water.

Siegfried crosses his arms, frowning defiantly.

(Sieg) Do your worst!  
(Voice) That won't be necessary.

The three of them jump, and raise to look over the wall of cobblestone. Hildegard von Krone stands on the other side, in armor and armed, accompanied by a sizeable entourage of some 30 soldiers.

(Hilde) Are you all done talking?

They stare, startled. Hilde looks particularly at Siegfried.

(Hilde) ...Finally. Sir Siegfried Schtauffen, it was no simple task, finding you.

Siegfried quickly hops the short wall and immediately kneels before Hilde.

(Sieg) Your highness!

Raphael, calmly sweating, catches her eye as he walks out from behind the wall to lean against it.

(Hilde) You... We've met before, haven't we.  
(Raph) --Have we?

She turns back to Siegfried.

(Hilde) (in german) You said you would accompany me to Wolfkrone. Did you change your mind?

Siegfried's head lowers slightly more.

(Sieg) N-No, your highness... There was...  
...Something I had to do.  
(Hilde) We were here, in Walachei some time before. But this time we came following rumors spoken by those searching for _Der Blaue Reiter_. Of course I knew he no longer existed.  
Your duty must have been important to have found you in such a remote place as this.

Siegfried's brows crease subtly and he closes his eyes.

(Sieg) ...Yes, it was.

And then WHACK, the flat side of Amy's rapier smashes down on the crown of Siegfried's head from behind, " _Agahck!_ " He whips back to glare at her as members of Hilde's group step forward, hands on their weapons. Raphael grabs Amy, hissing, " _Amy!_ " and pushing her behind him.  
One of Hilde's men shout at Raphael while pointing to the snow-scattered ground;

(Ritter) To your knee!

And, naturally, Raphael is irate (but controlled). His lips twist into an angry smirk.  
Hilde raises her hand, signaling everyone to stand down and back again.  
She looks back towards Siegfried.

(Hilde) If there's naught else to be done, then come with us.

Siegfried slowly looks up at her, then to Raphael.  
Taking a moment to feel the yawning sadness in his chest, he nods to Hilde again.

(Sieg) If I could... for a moment.

Siegfried stands up from his kneeling position and turns to Raphael. They quietly look at each other, mirroring a lightly bitter expression-- they know their time together has come to an end.  
Raphael is the first to speak;

(Raph) Hmmh... I will admit I wanted to have you.  
And although I promised to serve you, I...  
(Sieg) I know.  
(Raph) Of all men in this world, mind you...  
You are the most worthy.

Both of them smile somewhat.

(Sieg) I'm flattered.  
(Raph) I hope you are.

Siegfried slowly turns back to Hilde and the soldiers and Raphael looks to Amy, putting a hand on her shoulder before approaching Siegfried and taking him by the shoulders and hugging him. As the group stare in some surprise, Siegfried hugs him back, squeezing the man tight.

(Sieg) Raphael... Please... don't forget.  
(Raph) Don't be foolish...  
(Sieg) There's still much I wanted to do.  
(Raph) I'm sure we'll meet again, my friend.  
In the meantime, please, live your life. Be the man you were deprived of being.  
(Sieg) Thank you... Thank you...!

Siegfried gives a quiet sob, mashing his face into Raphael's shoulder. When he raises his head to look at Raphael, they gaze somewhat sadly for a moment.  
Raphael leans in, then, to whisper into Siegfried's ear.

(Raph) ...My only selfish wish is to kiss you... again and again, for as long as I like.

Siegfried closes his eyes, face hot. His brows knit in pretend annoyance.

(Raph) The next I see you, I'd better not have any competition. Man or woman.

Siegfried gently pushes back and crosses his arms with an embarrassed glare as Raphael returns to Amy's side, smiling subtly.  
Hilde inquires from behind;

(Hilde) Are you ready, then?

Siegfried quietly nods. Hilde takes a second to pull a bag of gold off her belt and toss it at Raphael, who catches it.  
As the group begins to leave, Siegfried calls for Raphael one last time;

(Sieg) Raphael, there's something I'd been meaning to tell you.

He raises his chin slightly, listening.

(Sieg) All that time ago in Ostrheinsburg... I could escape... to reclaim my soul from Nightmare because of you.  
It was your pride that inspired me.  
You gave me strength.

This is canon. Raphael's lips curl in a soft, curious smile. Siegfried then joins the others and they walk, following the path the army came from.  
Standing silently, Raphael watches.  
Amy looks up at him, slightly annoyed.

(Amy) Papa, you're a harlot.

A second, and then Raphael turns, hoisting a bag onto his shoulder.

(Raph) I can think of worse things to be!

He walks off and Amy huffs a long, disappointed sigh as she follows him.

(Raph) Please, Amy, I'm depressed.

In the bright morning, the sky a pale blue, the the snow-covered countryside calls to all of them.  
  
  
(The end)  



End file.
